Venezuela welcomed this week its first diesel cargo since November 2020, a fuel that the country sitting atop the world’s largest oil reserves has been forced to ration, similar to gasoline.

The tanker, carrying nearly 500,000 barrels of diesel, began discharging the fuel on Monday. Bueno departed from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the middle of last month, passed the Suez Canal earlier this month, and then turned off its transponder, while Lome in Togo is entered as a final destination, according to MarineTraffic.

It wasn’t immediately clear who provided the diesel cargo, Reuters noted.

The U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, the recession, hyperinflation, and the years of underinvestment and mismanagement in the oil industry have resulted in acute fuel shortages in the country in recent years, although this country holds the world’s largest crude oil reserves, larger than those of Saudi Arabia.

Until the fourth quarter of 2020, the United States allowed crude-for-diesel swaps under which Venezuela was obtaining the fuel needed for agriculture and trucking. But the Trump administration tightened the screws on the regime in Q4 2020 and banned the crude-for-diesel swaps.

This resulted in shortages and paralyzed the agricultural sector in Venezuela, which continues to struggle with a deep recession and hyperinflation. The government of Nicolas Maduro started to ration diesel in Q4 when the crude-for-diesel swaps were banned.

Ahead of President Biden’s inauguration in January, officials from fuel suppliers to Venezuela said they planned to call on the new Administration to reverse the ban on the crude-for-fuel deals.

Earlier this month, Brian Nichols, nominee for assistant secretary of state for the western hemisphere, said at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as carried by Argus, that the Administration doesn’t plan to either ease the sanctions on Venezuela or allow the crude-for-diesel trade soon.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

Source: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Venezuela-Imports-First-Diesel-Cargo-In-Six-Months.html

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The Qods Force – the external operations branch of the Revolutionary Guards – was responsible for the illicit shipments, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers alleged. “These actions represent the government’s largest-ever civil seizures of fuel and weapons from Iran,” he said. “Our intentions are to take the funds successfully forfeited from the fuel sales and provide them to the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund after the conclusion of the case.” The government sold the oil for about $40 million.

Demers added that enforcing sanctions on Iran – “a leading state sponsor of terrorism and a worldwide destabilizing force” – was a top U.S. priority. Iran accounted for “more than 40 percent” of the Justice Department’s prosecutions related to export controls and sanctions, he said.

The property in question was obtained through three seizures:

• On Nov. 25, 2019, and Feb. 9, 2020, U.S. Navy Central Command seized weapons from two flagless ships in the Arabian Sea, including 171 guided anti-tank missiles, eight surface-to-air missiles, land-attack cruise missile components, anti-ship cruise missile components, thermal weapons optics, and other components for missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. The weapons were allegedly sent by the Qods Force and were intended for militant groups in Yemen.
• On Aug. 14, 2020, the United States seized the cargo of four oil tankers transporting 1.1 million barrels of gasoline to Venezuela. The Bella, Bering, Pandi, and Luna were reportedly handed over while en route to Houston after the United States threatened the ship owners, insurers and captains with sanctions if they did not hand over their cargo.

The following is a press release from the Justice Department and remarks by Demers.

United Stated Files Complaint to Forfeit Iranian Missiles and Sells Previously-Transferred Iranian Petroleum

The Iranian Missiles Were Confiscated and the Iranian Petroleum Was Transferred From Ships in International Waters

The Justice Department today announced the filing of a complaint to forfeit two shipments of Iranian missiles that the U.S. Navy seized in transit from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to militant groups in Yemen, as well as the sale of approximately 1.1 million barrels of Iranian petroleum that the United States previously obtained from four foreign-flagged oil tankers bound for Venezuela.

These actions represent the government’s largest-ever forfeitures actions for fuel and weapons shipments from Iran.

“The two forfeiture complaints allege sophisticated schemes by the IRGC to secretly ship weapons to Yemen and fuel to Venezuela, countries that pose grave threats to the security and stability of their respective regions,” said John Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.  “Iran continues to be a leading state sponsor of terrorism and a worldwide destabilizing force.  It is with great satisfaction that I can announce that our intentions are to take the funds successfully forfeited from the fuel sales and provide them to the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund after the conclusion of the case.”

“These actions demonstrate our commitment to working with all of our law enforcement partners to stem the flow of illicit weapons, oil, and money from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other organizations that would do harm to the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin for the District of Columbia.  “The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia will use all available tools, including our jurisdiction to seize and forfeit assets located abroad, to counter terrorist funding and weapons proliferation.”

“This case exemplifies the remarkable collaboration across government toward our shared goal of protecting the homeland from regimes that threaten our national security.  This investigation sends a message that the attempted circumvention of U.S. sanctions and the avoidance of export conventions will not be tolerated,” said Derek Benner, Executive Associate Director for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).  “HSI will continue to use the full scope of its authorities and stand besides its partners in the U.S. and around the world keep weapons and assets out of the hands of adversarial regimes.”

“The FBI places a high priority on national security investigations targeting state-sponsored foreign terrorist organizations like the IRGC,” said FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Michael Paul.  “We recognize and appreciate the hard work and dedication of the agents and prosecutors who secured forfeiture of the petroleum and prevented its proceeds from funding Iran’s campaign of violence and unrest throughout the Middle East.”

“The illegal exportation of sensitive technology to prohibited countries poses a significant threat to our national security,” said Dermot F. O’Reilly, Director, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS).  “The complaint announced today is the direct result of joint investigative and analytical efforts with close partners in law enforcement and the Department of Defense.  DCIS will continue to identify, disrupt, and bring to justice those who threaten U.S. military technology.”

U.S. Navy Central Command (NAVCENT) seized the weapons from two flagless vessels in the Arabian Sea on Nov. 25, 2019, and Feb. 9, 2020, respectively.  The weapons included 171 guided anti-tank missiles, eight surface-to-air missiles, land-attack cruise missile components, anti-ship cruise missile components, thermal weapons optics, and other components for missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

On Aug. 20, 2020, the Justice Department filed a complaint seeking to forfeit the seized weapons in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  The forfeiture action is part of a larger investigation of an Iranian weapons smuggling network responsible for the arms shipments.  The network was involved in the illicit trafficking of advanced conventional weapons systems and components, including systems that contain U.S.-origin components, by sanctioned Iranian entities that directly support military action by the Houthis movement in Yemen and the Iranian regime’s campaign of terrorist activities throughout the region.

On Feb. 9, 2020, U.S. authorities seized three type “358” surface-to-air missiles (above) and 150 “Dhelaveih” anti-tank guided missiles (below).

On July 2, 2020, the United States also filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to forfeit all petroleum-product cargo aboard four foreign-flagged oil tankers.  The petroleum originated in Iran, and the sale of that petroleum benefitted the IRGC, a sanctioned Iranian entity.  In August 2020, the district court issued a warrant for arrest in rem and the United States subsequently transferred approximately 1.1 million barrels of refined petroleum from the four vessels.  The United States has now sold and delivered that petroleum.

The two forfeiture complaints allege sophisticated schemes by the IRGC to clandestinely ship weapons and fuel to sanctioned entities that pose grave threats to U.S. national security.  Forfeiture complaints are merely allegations.  The burden to prove forfeitability in both civil forfeiture proceedings is upon the government.

Funds successfully forfeited with a connection to a state sponsor of terrorism may in whole or in part be directed to the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund (http://www.usvsst.com/) after the conclusion of the case.

These seizures and forfeiture actions are a product of the U.S. government’s coordinated efforts to enforce U.S. sanctions against the IRGC and the Iranian regime.  HSI’s Washington Field Office and DCIS’s Mid-Atlantic Field Office are leading the investigation of the Iranian weapons smuggling network, with substantial assistance from NAVCENT in conducting the seizures.  The weapons case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael P. Grady and Stuart D. Allen are handing the case on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with support from Paralegal Specialist Elizabeth Swienc and Legal Assistant Jessica McCormick.

HSI Denver and FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office are investigating the shipments of Iranian petroleum, again with substantial assistance from NAVCENT during the seizure.  The petroleum case is being prosecuted by the National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian P. Hudak, Michael P. Grady, and Stuart D. Allen and National Security Division Trial Attorney David Lim are litigating the case, with support from Paralegal Specialist Elizabeth Swienc and Legal Assistant Jessica McCormick.  The Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice provided extensive assistance in the forfeiture and sale of the seized petroleum.

Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division John Demers

“Today, I am joined by Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin and the State Department’s Special Representative for Iran and Venezuela Elliott Abrams to announce two civil seizure court actions that have disrupted malign, and in one instance, potentially deadly, activities undertaken by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-Quds Force, a Foreign Terrorist Organization.  Special Representative Abrams will also be announcing sanctions that the State Department and the Department of the Treasury have imposed on the responsible individuals and entities.

“First, in November 2019 and February 2020, two U.S. warships – the USS Forrest Sherman and the USS Normandy – while conducting routine maritime security operations in the Arabian Sea, interdicted two flagless vessels.  Aboard both of the vessels were large stocks of weapons, including 171 guided anti-tank missiles, eight surface-to-air missiles, and various other missile components.  Subsequent investigation revealed the ships’ cargo to be of Iranian manufacture and consistent with known Iranian weapon systems.  Additional analysis revealed that the arms were from the IRCG-Quds Force and destined for militant groups in Yemen.  On Aug. 20, 2020, the National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia filed a complaint in U.S. District Court seeking to forfeit the seized weapons.

“On July 20, 2020, the National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia filed the second action, a complaint in U.S. district court seeking to forfeit approximately 1.1 million barrels of Iranian refined petroleum from four foreign-flagged vessels bound for Venezuela.  The proceeds from the sale of the petroleum benefitted the IRGC.  In August 2020, the District Court issued a warrant for arrest in rem of the cargo.  Upon being presented with the court’s seizure order, the ships’ owner transferred the petroleum to the government, and we can now announce that the United States has sold and delivered that petroleum.

“The two forfeiture complaints allege sophisticated schemes by the IRGC to secretly ship weapons to Yemen and fuel to Venezuela, countries that pose grave threats to the security and stability of their regions.  These actions represent the government’s largest-ever civil seizures of fuel and weapons from Iran.  Iran continues to be a leading state sponsor of terrorism and a worldwide destabilizing force.  It is therefore with great satisfaction that I can announce that our intentions are to take the funds successfully forfeited from the fuel sales and provide them to the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund after the conclusion of the case.

“These cases also highlight that enforcement of the sanctions against Iran remains one of the department’s national security priorities.  For the last several years, cases involving Iran’s efforts to evade the restrictions designed to curb its malign conduct comprise more than 40 percent of the export control and sanctions prosecutions that the department brings.  High-profile matters such as the prosecutions of foreign banks like Standard Chartered or Halkbank for handling prohibited U.S. dollar transactions or the prosecution of ZTE for using U.S. origin goods to build Iran’s telecommunications networks are only some of the excellent work that the department’s prosecutors and its law enforcement partners have done.  With these seizure actions, we are expanding our toolbox to combat Iran’s bad behavior.

“I would like to thank prosecutors from the National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia for their work on both of these matters.  I would further like to thank the U.S. Navy Central Command for successfully executing the seizures of the weapons at sea and Homeland Security Investigations and Defense Criminal Investigative Services for the subsequent investigation revealing the ties to the IRGC-Quds Force.  Last, I would like to thank Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI for their excellent assistance investigating the facts leading to the petroleum seizures.”

Source: https://iranprimer.usip.org/index.php/blog/2020/oct/30/us-seized-iranian-weapons-and-fuel-shipments

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EXCLUSIVE: The United States is warning it will destroy potential Iranian long-range missile shipments delivered to the Maduro regime in Venezuela, a senior administration official tells Fox News.

“The transfer of long-range missiles from Iran to Venezuela is not acceptable to the United States and will not be tolerated or permitted,” said Elliott Abrams, the State Department Special Representative for Iran and Venezuela.

“We will make every effort to stop shipments of long-range missiles, and if somehow they get to Venezuela they will be eliminated there,” added a senior administration official.

TRUMP’S GERMAN AMBASSADOR TRIED TO SECRETLY NEGOTIATE VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT’S EXIT

The officials provided no information that such shipments were imminent. They only claimed that Iran and Venezuela are a likely pair for arms deals.

“Iran has announced its intention to engage in arms sales, and Venezuela is an obvious target because those two pariah regimes already have a relationship,” said Abrams. “Venezuela is paying in gold to buy gasoline from Iran, and there is an Iranian presence in the country. Venezuela’s economy has collapsed, so every bar of gold for Iran is tens of thousands of dollars the Venezuelan people need for food and medicine.”

Last week, a United Nations embargo on Iran buying and selling conventional weapons expired. The Trump administration unsuccessfully tried to convince the United Nations Security Council to extend the embargo.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The Trump administration offered a $5 million reward Tuesday for information leading to the arrest of the head of Venezuela’s high court, accusing the judge of taking bribes.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Supreme Tribunal of Justice President Maikel Moreno, a close political ally of socialist President Nicolás Maduro, actively participated in transnational organized crime.

Moreno has allegedly received bribes in over 20 criminal and civil court cases, Pompeo said.

Moreno quickly rejected the reward, saying it was based on lies aimed at undermining him and will only strengthen his “autonomy and independence” as the head of Venezuela’s high court.

“This is not the first time a mouthpiece of the U.S. empire has tried to attack me,” Moreno said in a statement posted on Facebook. “They will never succeed because the independence and sovereignty of our homeland is not up for discussion.”

The Trump administration this year launched a “maximum pressure” campaign to oust Maduro as Venezuela’s economic and social crisis deepens in the once-wealthy oil nation. U.S. officials earlier this year charged Maduro as a narcoterrorist, offering $15 million for his arrest.

Maduro has rejected the U.S. charges against him, saying the are politically motivated.

The White House recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. U.S. federal prosecutors earlier this year charged Moreno with money laundering offenses associated with the bribery.

“The United States continues to stand with the people of Venezuela in their fight against corruption and for the peaceful restoration of democracy,” Pompeo said in a statement.

Source: https://apnews.com/851abaf040c0a3d6895b09f0f852ab63

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For the second time in three weeks, U.S. Southern Command has sent a Navy warship through waters off the coast of Venezuela, the combatant command said Wednesday.

The guided-missile destroyer Pinckney steamed through waters off the South American country’s coast to challenge Caracas’ “excessive maritime claims in international waters.”

Such freedom of navigation operations, or FONOPs, occur regularly in the South China Sea, where the U.S. military regularly contests Beijing’s territorial claims, but several such operations have also taken place off Venezuela this year.

A SOUTHCOM release announcing the Pinckney FONOP decried “the illegitimate Maduro regime” of the country’s authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro, and alleges that his government “improperly claims” waters that lie three miles outside of Venezuela’s 12-nautical-mile sea territory.

Pinckney is operating in the Caribbean Sea with other Navy and Coast Guard vessels on a counter-narcotics mission.

“We will exercise our lawful right to freely navigate international waters without acquiescing to unlawful claims,” SOUTHCOM’s commander, Adm. Craig Faller, said in a statement. “The guaranteed rights of nations to access, transit, and navigate international waters is not subject to impositions or restrictions that blatantly violate international law.”

Last month, the warship Nitze conducted a FONOP off Venezuela.

Nitze’s FONOP followed a similar operation in January by the littoral combat ship Detroit.

The United States has joined nearly 60 other countries in backing Venezuela’s opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, as the country’s legitimate ruler, rather than the dictatorial Maduro, who is accused of illegitimately winning a 2018 election that banned other opponents and driving his oil-rich country into financial ruin.

About Geoff Ziezulewicz

Geoff is a senior staff reporter for Military Times, focusing on the Navy. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was most recently a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.

Source: https://www.navytimes.com/news/2020/07/15/destroyer-pinckney-challenges-venezuelas-maritime-territorial-claims/

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The fall in oil exports has starved the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro of its main source of revenue, contributing to an economic collapse in the OPEC nation and leaving authorities short of cash for essential imports such as food and medicine.

Maduro has held onto power despite the sanctions, frustrating the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Washington and most Western democracies accuse Maduro of rigging a 2018 re-election vote.

Trump’s team has increased pressure in recent months, expanding its list of sanctioned entities to include Mexican companies, oil tankers, international shipping firms, and individuals that have played a role in Venezuela’s oil exports.

Tighter sanctions have scared away many remaining customers of state-run oil firm PDVSA, and some shipping firms that had carried their cargoes.

PDVSA and its joint ventures shipped a total of 17 cargoes in June, carrying about 379,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and refined products, according to Refinitiv Eikon data and the company’s loading schedules. The low volume, unseen since 1943, was almost 18% below May exports, according to the same data.

(For a graphic on exports by month, go here: tmsnrt.rs/2BgyyuM)

The country’s total crude output is slightly above those levels, according to daily PDVSA data seen by Reuters. PDVSA has had to cut output to match exports because most of the country’s oil storage is full.

That would put output at a little more than 10 percent of the nearly 3.5 million bpd the country pumped in the late 1990s. Back then, Venezuela was one of the powerhouses in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Now, Caracas is among the group’s minnows, even though it sits on some of the largest crude reserves in the world.

Sanctions have also left more than a dozen loaded tankers in limbo around the world as suppliers struggle to find final buyers for the cargoes. Several of those vessels are off the waters of Malaysia and Singapore.

Exports to Europe ticked up in June to 130,000 bpd, boosted by larger deliveries to Spain’s Repsol and Italy’s Eni, the PDVSA documents showed. Those shipments are permitted under exemptions for debt payments and swaps.

Shipments to Venezuela’s political ally Cuba also increased to 82,300 bpd from 67,000 bpd in May.

Heavy crude inventories at Venezuela’s Jose port, the country’s main oil terminal and storage site for exportable crude, closed the month at 14.5 million barrels versus a peak of 14.9 million barrels in mid-June, according to the PDVSA data.

Venezuela’s fuel imports also declined last month, to 66,000 bpd from 77,100 bpd the previous month as most arrivals of Iranian gasoline discharged in May.

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Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela Jorge Arreasa has announced President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro’s willingness to hold talks with US President Donald Trump, TASS reports.

According to Areasa, Maduro is always ready for any proposal.

“Since the first day Donald Trump was elected, Maduro has said there are disagreements between the two presidents, and there still are disagreements, but they need to be solved through dialogue,” Jorge Areasa stated, adding that Trump has announced the likelihood of such a meeting several times and that ultra-right Republicans are hindering the dialogue.

Source: https://news.am/eng/news/587714.html

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(Bloomberg) — Venezuelan politics descended into disarray on Sunday when security forces barred opposition leader Juan Guaido and his backers from entering the National Assembly, allowing loyalists to President Nicolas Maduro to choose an assembly president instead of Guaido.

His suit torn from scaling a fence, Guaido and his supporters went elsewhere and re-elected him anyway, drawing backing from Washington and Latin American and European powers that consider Maduro illegitimate and condemned his actions.

“This is a farce,” said lawmaker Stalin Gonzalez, a Guaido lieutenant after the assembly chose a new leader. “Where is the vote, the list of attendees or the quorum necessary for a vote like this?”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a statement congratulated Guaido on re-election, adding that “arrests, bribes and blocking access to its building were unable to derail“ the assembly. But with Washington preoccupied over threats of retaliation from Iran, this could prove an opportune time for Maduro to pressure Guaido with relative impunity.

Maduro’s Growing Confidence

The move certainly illustrated growing confidence by Maduro that, despite the country’s spiraling poverty, hunger and dysfunction, Guaido’s yearlong attempt to oust him is losing steam.

A year ago, when Guaido, 36, announced that, as president of the National Assembly, he was interim president of the country since Maduro’s election was rigged and illegitimate, he was greeted with hundreds of thousands of citizens backing him in rapturous rallies. His popularity topped 60%.

On Sunday, the streets didn’t ring out with support for him. They were largely empty. He is polling now in the high 30s, according to Datanalisis. He is still the most popular politician in the country and when guards barred him, he shouted, “Does your girlfriend or your mother agree with what you’re doing? What do they say to you at home?”

After being re-elected by his colleagues, Guaido said they’d go to the assembly on Tuesday to meet. It seems unlikely to occur without a struggle. He added, “Today we defeated the dictatorship again. They did not succeed. 2020 is a second opportunity for Venezuela. We have no doubt that we have the majority, we will use it, we must pressure the dictatorship.”

Three Legislatures

But Maduro controls all the key institutions, including the military, electoral council, and judicial system. In 2017, he also set up an alternative legislature, the National Constituent Assembly. As of now, there appear to be three legislative bodies in an increasingly authoritarian system.

On Sunday, Maduro said new assembly elections were coming this year — and Guaido and his backers will have to decide whether to take part in them. By doing so, they risk losing in a rigged process; by staying away, they lose the only body they still control. Even if they have little power to do much, they have the moral suasion of having been elected.

The man who has now declared himself president of the assembly is Luis Parra, a deputy ensnared in a corruption scandal. While officially a member of the opposition, he has abandoned Guaido. Maduro saluted Parra on television, declaring that the nation’s legislature now has new leadership.

Luis Vicente Leon, head of Datanalisis, called Sunday’s events “the equivalent of a coup against the only legitimately elected institution” in the country. “For an opposition that was already very weak, this is not good news.”

Guaido and the rest of the opposition went to the eastern Caracas headquarters of El Nacional newspaper to hold their vote. Inside a cramped room, a large flag framed Guaido and his deputies, who sat on plastic chairs and listened as lawmakers announced their votes, yelling out “traitor” and “sellout” when Parra and his supporters’ names were called. He won with 100 votes.

Agents in Ski Masks

From dawn on Sunday, the streets around the National Assembly were dominated by the National Guard and National Police. They closed vehicular access with checkpoints and anti-riot trucks. The information ministry barred a number of journalists. Nearby, intelligence agents armed with rifles patrolled wearing ski masks.

Several opposition lawmakers who spent the night in a hotel said agents knocked on their doors claiming there was a bomb threat, checked around and left.

Carlos Romero, a political analyst at Central University of Venezuela, said, “Tomorrow Maduro’s government will undergo even more criticism than before. What happened went beyond what anyone could have predicted. Maduro’s government feels strong enough to carry this out right now because they have succeeded over Guaido’s failed plan to end his government. Maduro was able to forge international allies and divide the opposition.”

While the U.S., most of Europe and most Latin American countries have backed Guaido, Maduro has maintained the support of Russia, China, Cuba, Iran and Turkey, evading U.S. oil and other key sanctions by trading through those countries.

Source: https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/maduro-forces-oust-guaido-from-congress-spark-day-of-chaos-2052791

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Venezuela’s embattled President Nicolás Maduro said he had been in talks with the Trump administration for months, even as the US ramped up its sanctions.

The US is one of more than 50 nations which do not recognize Mr. Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.

On Tuesday, Mr. Maduro said that talks with the Trump administration had been going on for months.

But US National Security Adviser John Bolton said the only thing being discussed was Mr. Maduro’s departure.

Speaking on television, Mr. Maduro said: “Just as I have sought dialogue in Venezuela, I have sought a way in which President Trump really listens to Venezuela.”

President Trump confirmed on Tuesday that his administration was “talking to various representatives of Venezuela”.

“I don’t want to say who, but we are talking at a very high level,” the US president said.

Mr. Maduro had suggested that he authorized the back-channel discussions.

But Mr. Bolton cast those contacts in a very different light, tweeting that the “only items discussed by those who are reaching out behind Maduro’s back are his departure and free and fair elections”.

The US imposed sweeping sanctions earlier this month aimed at increasing pressure on President Maduro to step down.

• Venezuela crisis in 300 words
• What’s behind Venezuela’s political crisis?

What is the situation in Venezuela?

The country has been caught up in a struggle for power between President Maduro and the leader of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Juan Guaidó.

Mr. Guaidó declared himself interim president in January, claiming that the elections which brought Maduro to power for a second term were fraudulent.

While Mr. Guaidó has gained the backing of over 50 countries he has so far failed to remove Mr. Maduro from power.

Talks between the two sides hosted by Barbados and mediated by Norway recently stalled after President Maduro denounced the opposition for backing the sweeping sanctions imposed by the US.

The country is suffering one of the worst economic crises in history with a quarter of its 30 million population in need of aid, according to the United Nations.

More than four million Venezuelans have left the country over the past years.

Why is the US involved?

Mr. Maduro’s government has come under fire by the international community for a number of reasons.

When opposition parties gained a majority in the country’s National Assembly, the president created a rival body stacked with his supporters which assumed many of its powers. His 2018 re-election was controversial and labeled as rigged by his critics after many rivals were barred from running or fled the country.

Protests and demonstrations erupted into violence and were met with a crackdown by authorities which saw civilians killed.

The US has been a frequent target of Mr. Maduro’s anger.

• US sanctions may worsen Venezuela suffering – UN
• ‘Corruption network’ in Venezuela’s food program

Mr. Maduro has accused the US, and John Bolton in particular, of trying to kill him, without supplying any evidence. He claims that his opposition is backed by foreign powers, rather than a domestic resistance to his authority.

Government officials were the first target of US sanctions against Mr. Maduro’s government – but earlier this year, it brought new restrictions forward on the state oil company, which is a major player in the national economy.

That was followed in August by sweeping sanctions that froze all property of the government in the US and blocks American firms doing business with Venezuela.

Source:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49418451

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