WASHINGTON (AN) — A new U.N.-administered fund to direct US$3 billion in humanitarian aid to Venezuelans will be set up under an agreement between representatives of President Nicolas Maduro's government and the opposition.
The signing of the agreement on Saturday in Mexico City between the socialist government and opposition, including U.S.-backed Juan Guaidó, restarts negotiations and clears the way for Chevron to resume pumping oil from its Venezuelan joint ventures.
A joint statement by the parties, which was negotiated in a process facilitated by Norway and hosted by Mexico, said they resumed negotiations and signed a second partial agrement to create the humanitarian fund. They also agreed to address "political matters" when talks resume in December that include human rights issues and holding free and fair elections in 2024.
About US$3 billion in frozen funds is expected to be directed to the new U.N.-administered fund from the Venezuelan government's frozen assets held in U.S. and European banks, according to the agreement.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the developments intended to allocate money for health, food, education and electricity that provide people with social protection and humanitarian assistance, according to Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the secretary-general.
Guterres noted the request for U.N. assistance and said the world body is committed to supporting the agreement's implementation. He also encouraged Maduro's government and the opposition to clinch "new agreements that address the political, social and human rights challenges facing the country."
The assets were frozen after the U.S. imposed sanctions targeting the Venezuelan government in 2015. Former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration significantly extended sanctions Venezuela's government in 2019 to target its oil and natural gas company, Petróleos de Venezuela, or PdVSA, and pressure Maduro to hold free elections. Both the U.S. and European Union have designated people associated with the regime to be targeted by the sanctions.
As many as 7 million people have fled Venezuela's economic collapse and political and humanitarian crises under Maduro's government, and about 75% of those who remain live in extreme poverty.
Earlier this year a U.N. report said Venezuela will need US$795 million "to support 5.2 million people with assistance, focusing on supporting health services, improving food security and nutrition, strengthening basic service delivery and education, promoting protection and addressing human mobility."
Norway welcomes the resumption of the Venezuelan Dialogue and Negotiation Process and the social agreement between the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Unitary Platform of Venezuela. Read the agreement and the joint statement here https://t.co/uOIlqWGTvh https://t.co/F0cvhtG88v
— Norway MFA (@NorwayMFA) November 26, 2022
Of sanctions and oil
The United States also welcomed the announcement by Venezuelan negotiators to restart the dialogue process in Mexico City. The U.S. Treasury Department relaxed sanctions, issuing a six-month license for Chevron to resume pumping a limited amount of oil in Venezuela. It requires all of the crude produced by the second-largest U.S. oil company to be exported to the United States, and all profits to go to U.S.-based Venezuelan creditors.
The license, which will revert to a monthly renewal after six months, is intended to prevent PdVSA from receiving any of the proceeds from its joint ventures with Chevron, according to U.S. officials.
The move is a major change from the previous Trump administration's stance – when Chevron could only keep its Venezuelan assets, but not export crude oil – and reflects international pressure to resolve Venezuela's crisis amid a global energy crunch made worse by Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
"We urge the parties to engage in good faith toward a comprehensive agreement leading to free and fair elections in 2024, the restoration of democratic institutions, and an end to the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela," said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The U.S. welcomes all parties' willingness "to pursue joint initiatives that will benefit the Venezuelan people and help address their dire humanitarian needs," he said. "This agreement provides the template for how further progress can be secured. We are grateful for the work of the United Nations towards this goal."
In January 2019, the opposition-majority National Assembly declared Maduro’s 2018 re-election invalid and named Guaidó, the assembly president, interim president of Venezuela until fair elections could be held. More than 50 nations recognized Guaidó as leader, but Maduro, with military backing, kept his grip.
Maduro's government also has remained in power with support from China, Cuba, Iran, Russia and Turkey.
Venezuela has the world’s biggest proven oil reserves, exported by PDVSA. The United States had added Maduro and more than 100 Venezuelan officials and others to its economic sanctions, before the Biden administration eased some oil sanctions on Saturday.
"We are grateful to Norway for their steadfast dedication in facilitating this process, to Mexico for hosting the negotiations, and to Venezuela’s democratic actors whose commitment to finding a negotiated solution to the crisis has been resolute," said Blinken.
"We reiterate our willingness to review sanctions policies," he added, "if the regime makes meaningful progress in the announced talks to alleviate the suffering of the Venezuelan people and bring them closer to a restoration of democracy."
Heilprin reported from Bern, Switzerland.
