The United States confirmed that the license that allows the oil company The American Chevron to operate in Venezuela He won the last minute of this Marss. “We are not going to allow money to attend the regime,” said state department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.
According to Bruce, President Donald Trump himself He ordered the head of diplomacy, Marco Rubio, to expire all the oil permits granted by his predecessor in the White House, Joe Biden, and who “benefited” the Venezuelan government. Among them were the total and repsol.
Rubio himself had anticipated that measure, contrary to what Richard Grenelll had suggested, Trump’s special envoy for Venezuela, after bringing a military person who was detained in the South American country back to the United States.
As of this Wednesday Chevron will have an authorization that will only allow essential operations maintenance It is forbidden to make new investments or export raw from Venezuela.
End of a brief cycle
Biden had lightened the sanctions imposed by Trump as of 2019 to accompany the negotiation process between the maturism and the opposition that led to the presidential elections in July 2024. Subsequent situations, including the disqualification to María Corina Machado to present himself as a candidate, and, especially LA proclamation of Maduro’s victory without the National Electoral Council (CNE) He presented the minutes, tame the relations with the Democratic president in the last stretch of his mandate, when he recognized the triumph at the polls of Edmundo González Urrutia.
Beyond the officially announced, the analysts were aware of some movements and gestures that did not coincide with the Rubio line. The Wall Street Journal He recorded days ago that the White House contemplated authorizing Chevron to continue exporting Venezuelan oil to the United States for two months in exchange for Venezuela to accept the return of thousands of migrants who plan to lose their temporary protection status (TPS).
Chevron, said other American media, had been pressing Trump administration for several months to continue their activities in Venezuela. El magnate Paul Singer, Founder and president of Elliot Management Corporation, and at the same time a contributor to the recent Trump who returned him to the presidency, headed the pressures aimed at keeping the oil company in Venezuela. His reason was strictly accounting: it is an important creditor of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). At that time, Florida state legislators threatened to withdraw their support for Trump’s expense bill. They spoke on behalf of the Cuban-American Rubio, Who, for the moment, is the winner of a bid inside the government about what to do with Maduro.
Economic impact
The measure adopted has a strong impact on the Venezuelan economy. Chevron has been one of the growth engines in 2023 and 2024. The relative bonanza resuspered the domestic market after almost a decade of hardships that resulted in A historical fall of GDP of almost 80% between 2013, the year that began the internal conflict, and 2022. The increase in the price of the dollar in the black market and inflation are the first signals of worsening that is enrolled on the horizon. The cost of living during the first quarter has increased by 36.1%, according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Finance (OVF),
The announcement of Trump’s diplomacy did not cause surprises. It was known in advance that May 27 was the key day. “By announcing sanctions against the American company Chevron, pretending to do damage to the Venezuelan people, in fact, damage to the United States, its population, already its companies,” already said weeks ago, said the vice president of the Cy Rodríguez. The Miraflores Palace looks nevertheless in serious trouble.
Warning
In this context, and with a decision that seems to be complementary to what happened with Chevron, the State Department urged its citizens not to travel to Venezuela and immediately abandon that country. “Every American runs the risk of being stopped by Maduro’s regime “he warned. Among the “serious risks” that he listed are torture during an eventual arrest, “terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary police practices, violent crimes, civil disturbances and deficiencies in medical care.”
