Washington has lifted sanctions that have hindered trade in Venezuelan oil. This happened less than a month after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a special operation in Caracas, world agencies reported.
Transactions carried out by the Venezuelan state oil company “Petroleos de Venezuela“, as well as those of companies in which it owns at least 50 percent, are now permitted, the US Treasury Department announced.
Conditions have been established to prevent Venezuelan oil from going to Russia, North Korea, Cuba or China, the department added. The decision was made shortly after Venezuela's parliament passed a reform of the hydrocarbon law that will allow private investment in the country's oil sector.
At the same time, US President Donald Trump announced that he had requested that the airspace over Venezuela be opened to civilian flights, Agence France-Presse reported.
“American citizens will very soon be able to travel to Venezuela and they will be safe there. The country is under very strict control“, Trump said, adding that he had discussed the matter with Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez.
Shortly after that, the US Federal Aviation Administration said it had lifted the warning to pilots regarding the Caribbean region and Venezuela, issued due to US military operations there earlier this month.
The company “American Airlines“ said it intends to resume direct flights between the United States and Venezuela, which it suspended in 2019.
And U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said his agencies were doing everything they could to resume travel between the United States and Venezuela.
On January 8, Trump warned that the United States would begin ground strikes on drug cartels after they struck ships of suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean and the Pacific. The warning came five days after Maduro was captured in Caracas to stand trial in the United States on narcoterrorism charges. He and his wife, who was captured with him on the same charges, already appeared in a U.S. court on January 5, and the next hearing in the case is scheduled for March 17.
Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, said her country had made important steps forward. She expressed this opinion after a telephone conversation she had with US President Donald Trump and after promulgating a regulatory act reforming Venezuela's hydrocarbon legislation, reported Agence France-Presse. Rodriguez explained that Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had called her.
Rodriguez stressed that the reform of the law is a historic leap. She stressed that the reform would allow Venezuela to turn its oil reserves, which are the largest on the planet, into the greatest happiness that can befall a people.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order stating that the US may impose tariffs of an unspecified amount on countries that sell oil to Cuba, world agencies reported.
"Additional tariffs, calculated based on an assessment of value, could be imposed on imports of goods produced by countries that sell oil directly or indirectly to Cuba or that supply Cuba with oil", the executive order published by the White House said.
This decision aims to further increase pressure on the island, ruled by a communist regime, and is based on an assessment of "the exceptional threat that Cuba poses to US national security", in connection with which "a declared and extraordinary situation", the decree notes.
Washington accuses the Cuban authorities of supporting a number of countries, international terrorist organizations and players hostile to the United States on the global stage, such as Russia, China, Iran, “Hamas“ and “Hezbollah“. Cuba is also accused of “destabilizing the region through migration and violence“, while “spreading its communist ideas, programs and practices“.
The American president recently made it clear to Havana that for Cuba “there will be no more oil“ without an “agreement“ with the authorities.
Donald Trump has placed under American control the oil sector of Venezuela, which since the beginning of the 21st century has been the main supplier of oil to Cuba, which was its ally.
The new threat from the Republican leader comes at a time when the island is already in a difficult energy situation. Cuba, which has been under a US embargo since 1962, has been experiencing serious fuel shortages for the past three years, which directly affect electricity production. According to data collected and analyzed by Agence France-Presse, in 2025 the country will be able to cover only about half of its electricity needs.
Mexico is one of the few countries that still supplies crude oil to Cuba. The country's President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that she remains "in solidarity" with the island, denying media reports that her government has decided to cut off oil supplies.