The US warns Maduro that he has until April to fulfill agreements with the opposition

The White House this Monday warned the Government of Nicolas Maduro which has until April to comply with the agreements reached with the opposition before USA make decisions about sanctions.

“We have options at our disposal. I’m not going to advance any of them at this time, but we certainly have options regarding sanctions and those types of things that we can take. “They have until April”White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at a press conference.

In April, the temporary lifting of several United States sanctions on Venezuelan oil and gas ends, a measure that the United States adopted after the Government and the Venezuelan opposition reached agreements in Barbados on the 2024 presidential elections.

Kirby stated that, in the agreements, the Maduro Government ““They made some commitments about opposition political parties, about free and fair elections and what that all meant, and they haven’t taken those actions.”

The US official urged Venezuelan leaders “to make the right decisions” before April.

The Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela ratified last Friday the 15-year disqualification of the candidate of the main opposition coalition to the presidential elections, María Corina Machado, which would prevent her from competing in those elections.

The United States announced in October the temporary lifting of several sanctions on Venezuela, including those on the oil and gas sector, after the Maduro government and the country’s opposition agreed to international supervision of the upcoming elections.

Joe Biden’s Administration warned, however, that the suspension of sanctions on oil and gas will be in effect for six months and that it could reconsider the decision.

Among the conditions that the US then set for not reactivating sanctions was the release of several US prisoners in Venezuela, something that happened last month, but also the authorization of Machado.