The Donald Trump administration is set to expand its economic offensive against Venezuela, pressuring more companies to cease their operations in the South American country.
Bloomberg reported that officials have anticipated several companies about upcoming revocations of their licenses, telling them they will have 30 days to end operations after the notification. French oil producer Etablissements Maurel & Prom SA and Spanish oil giant Repsol are among them.
The communications follow the formal revocation of Chevron's license to operate in Venezuela in late February. The Trump administration has given the company until April 3 to stop all operations, a heavy blow to Nicolas Maduro's authoritarian government.
The company ramped up production in the South American country over the past years, now representing about a fifth of its overall output. Its activities have helped prop up Venezuela's battered economy.
Critics have argued that the company's operations are providing a lifeline to an authoritarian regime that has encroached to power through fraudulent ways.
Trump claimed that Maduro had not adhered to promised electoral reforms and had failed to repatriate Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. at the expected pace.
"We are hereby reversing the concessions that Crooked Joe Biden gave to Nicolás Maduro, of Venezuela, on the oil transaction agreement, dated November 26, 2022, and also having to do with Electoral conditions within Venezuela, which have not been met by the Maduro regime," Trump wrote. "Additionally, the regime has not been transporting the violent criminals that they sent into our Country (the Good Ole' U.S.A.) back to Venezuela at the rapid pace that they had agreed to."
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez reacted to the decision on the same day, saying the "United States government has made a damaging and inexplicable decision; by announcing sanctions against the American company Chevron, intending to harm the Venezuelan people, in reality, it is inflicting harm on the United States, its population, and its companies, also calling into question the legal security of the United States in its international investment regime."
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