01/10/2025 12:38 PM EST
The Biden administration announced new sanctions against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other government officials on Friday — marking its anger with Caracas minutes after Maduro was sworn into office for a third term following an election the U.S. says he didn’t win.
But if the move was meant to hold Maduro and his allies to account for failing to conduct free and fair elections and escalating their repression against the country’s opposition, it may have fallen short. Critics of the Maduro regime and U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had been pushing for new measures against the petrostate’s oil and gas industry, and that didn’t happen.
The administration said it increased bounties against Maduro and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello on drug trafficking charges to the maximum levels under U.S. law. The U.S. is also adding a $15 million reward for information that could lead to the arrest of Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, who is also accused of facilitating drug trafficking.
New coordinated sanctions will also be imposed with European allies against the heads of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA, and state airline Conviasa, along with new visa restrictions against Venezuelan government officials, according to senior administration officials who briefed reporters. Venezuelans who entered the United States after July 31, 2023, will also be eligible for an 18-month extension of their temporary protected status.
The efforts are the latest step toward holding Maduro accountable in the wake of an election widely considered fraudulent by international observers, according to one of the administration officials. The officials briefed reporters on the condition they be granted anonymity.
The Venezuelan opposition has published precinct-level results that show that Maduro lost in last July’s presidential election to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia. International pressure to date has failed to get Maduro to publish results corroborating his purported win, let alone cede power to the opposition.
The White House declined to say whether it would ultimately clamp down on existing export licenses that allow PDVSA to sell oil and gas in collaboration with the U.S. and other foreign companies. The U.S. has declined to cancel a longstanding export license granted to Chevron that allows it to operate in the country despite broad U.S. sanctions against the energy sector.
Repression against the opposition has only increased in the lead up to Friday’s inauguration. Venezuelan officials threatened both González and opposition leader María Corina Machado over several months and arrested many of their associates and allies who remained in Venezuela. Venezuelan police have also sieged the former Argentine Embassy in Caracas, which is sheltering some Machado allies, cutting off power and water access to the complex.
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