Republican lawmakers blasted the Biden administration’s decision to temporarily suspend sanctions on Venezuela’s oil, gas, and gold sectors.
The decision was announced after dictator Nicolas Maduro’s government and its opposition agreed to certain terms for the next presidential election, including letting independent candidates run and allowing international media and elections experts into the country to monitor it.
“The United States will provide limited sanctions relief primarily in the oil and gas sector in response to this important development,” a senior administration official said in a press briefing, reports Politico. “Our ultimate goal with sanctions is to bring positive change in behavior.”
If Maduro reneges, however, the U.S. is prepared to amend or revoke authorizations at any time,” said Brian Nelson, Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
“All other restrictions imposed by the United States on Venezuela remain in place, and we will continue to hold bad actors accountable. We stand with the Venezuelan people and support Venezuelan democracy,” he added.
Republicans were incensed.
"It is shocking how the Biden administration continues to look in all the wrong places for energy. If it’s not Iran, it’s Venezuela. They’re easing up on the worst regimes in the world, giving them the revenues to stay in power and spread terror and corruption, while kneecapping environmentally responsible development in Alaska," said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), referring to the Biden administration's decision to cancel the last remaining oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
"And that’s exactly backwards," she continued. "Alaska could be responsibly producing the resources the world needs, but the administration has decided we are the problem. This is beyond absurd; it’s an active threat to a stable world. President Biden: the sanctions go on countries like Iran, Russia, and Venezuela—not Alaska."
The easing of oil sanctions on Venezuela will provide Maduro with legitimacy and money to continue his authoritarian reign.
— Sen. Dan Sullivan (@SenDanSullivan) October 17, 2023
Unfortunately, this is the same sort of naïve thinking we’ve seen with Iran. We all know how that turned out.
In response to the Biden administration's plan, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and his colleagues reintroduced a bill that would prohibit the importation of crude oil, petroleum, and LNG from Venezuela and Iran into the U.S.
“The United States is blessed to have a plentiful supply of oil and natural gas — we should be using it. American-produced energy is cleaner and provides good paying jobs for American workers, yet the Biden Administration would rather appease dictatorships in Iran and Venezuela in return for hostage swaps, bad deals, and false promises. Under no circumstance should we be funneling money into the hands of dictators and narco-terrorists who are aiding Vladimir Putin’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine. Enough is enough — it’s time to bring energy production back home," Rubio said.
“The idea of importing oil from our adversaries is a complete slap in the face of working Americans," said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND). "We should be using and supporting American energy, and any reliance on our adversaries for something as critical as energy is an obvious threat to our national security. It is long overdue to formalize a policy of removing our enemies from our critical supply chains.”