MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump ends Biden's oil concessions to Venezuela

Electoral conditions within Venezuela have not been fulfilled, Trump argued

US President Donald Trump has revoked the oil concessions granted to Venezuela by his predecessor, Joseph Biden, due to non-compliance with electoral conditions and lack of cooperation in the process of deporting “violent criminals,” it was announced in Washington DC. This decision impacts Chevron's operations in Venezuela, which were authorized by Biden in 2022.

Trump accuses the Chavista regime of President Nicolás Maduro of failing to meet agreed-upon conditions and not picking up Venezuelan irregular migrants. The “oil transaction agreement” is linked to ”electoral conditions within Venezuela, which have not been fulfilled by the regime of (President Nicolás) Maduro“, wrote the Republican president in his social network Truth Social, to add that ”therefore, I order that the ineffective and unfulfilled Biden Concession Agreement be rescinded as of the March 1 renewal option.”

Washington does not recognize Maduro's reelection for a third term (2025-2031) and supports the exiled Edmundo González Urrutia, who claims victory in the July 28, 2024, elections. He attended Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.

Venezuelan Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said the measure was “harmful and inexplicable” since it could have significant macroeconomic consequences for the South American country, affecting income flow and exchange rates. “We categorically reject this type of action publicly requested by the country's extremist and failed opposition,” Rodríguez said in a statement. She then quoted Uruguayan independence hero José Gervasio Artigas: “Let us expect nothing but from ourselves.”

In the meantime, experts suggest waiting for the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to rule on the matter by March 1. Biden reimposed most of the sanctions on Venezuelan oil and gas in April 2024 after Maduro reneged on his electoral commitments, but maintained individual licenses to some oil companies such as US Chevron, Spain's Repsol, or France's Maurel & Prom.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration sent Richard Grenell to Caracas. He came back with six US nationals formerly held by the Bolivarian regime, in addition to a promise - according to Washington - that Venezuelan irregular migrants expelled by the United States would be welcomed back to their country.