US President Joseph Biden's candidate for the office of Undersecretary of the State Department for the Western Hemisphere, Brian A. Nichols, has said sanctions against the Nicolás Maduro regime must continue.
Venezuelan oil exports fell by 17% in May compared to April, due to the difficulty to sell barrels of heavy crude oil that US refiners used to buy and process before the sanctions imposed on the Nicolás Maduro government, reported Reuters.
The US has imposed sanctions on Venezuela's state-owned oil firm PDVSA and urged the country's military to accept a peaceful transfer of power. National Security Adviser John Bolton said President Nicolás Maduro and his allies could no longer loot the assets of the Venezuelan people. Efforts by the opposition to unseat Mr Maduro have increased in recent days.
Two days before presidential elections in Venezuela, the Trump administration on Friday announced sanctions against a powerful governing party politician, accusing him of drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering and embezzling government money.