Senator Seeks Update on Venezuela Sanctions Policy
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., urged committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., to hold hearings on the implications of the recent U.S. military operation in Venezuela, including the impact on U.S. sanctions policy.
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In a letter publicly released Jan. 8, Warren suggested that the ongoing U.S. blockade on Venezuelan oil exports does not square with the administration’s recently announced plans to obtain millions of barrels of oil from Venezuela (see 2601070041). She also questioned why the administration ended a license that allowed Chevron to produce oil in Venezuela and sell it to the U.S. but reportedly replaced it with a license that lets Venezuela’s state-owned oil company sell oil to China.
President Donald Trump’s "focus on increasing Venezuelan oil exports raises significant questions about the status -- and objectives -- of the extensive sanctions he imposed to weaken Venezuela’s oil sector," Warren wrote. "The administration owes the public a coherent explanation about whether it plans to shift our sanctions policy, the goals it expects to achieve through that new approach, and how it will ensure that any sales or licenses actually serve the public interest -- for the American people and for the millions of Venezuelans who have borne the brunt of extensive U.S. oil and banking sanctions."
Scott’s office and the White House didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Jan. 4 that the U.S. will continue to impose and enforce its sanctions against Venezuela until the country takes steps to “further the national interest of the United States” and create a better future for the Venezuelan people (see 2601050056).