Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Jorge Rodriguez, President of Venezuela’s National Assembly, asserted that the country will not bow to any “ultimatums” from other countries, in response to recent warnings from the U.S.
Last month, the U.S. decided to ease some oil sanctions on Venezuela following an electoral agreement between President Nicolas Maduro’s government and the political opposition that was reached in October.
At the same time, the U.S. also indicated that further sanctions relief would be on the table from April onwards if Venezuela removes political bans on opposition leaders, such as the 15-year public office ban imposed on presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado.
However, opposition parties have labeled these bans as unlawful.
In addition, the relaxation of U.S. sanctions is contingent on the release of political detainees and U.S. citizens who are being unjustly held. U.S. officials have stressed the expectation for concrete actions to be taken by Venezuela in this regard this month.
Despite these conditions, Rodriguez, who leads the government delegation in the opposition negotiations, made it clear at the press conference that Venezuela will not be swayed by ultimatums.
“Venezuela does not accept ultimatums from anyone, by now everybody should know that, we don’t care,” he stated.
Prior to these developments, state-owned oil company PDVSA had been engaged in discussions with contractors to ramp up production. Analysts have suggested that a gradual increase in government income could result from a potential easing of sanctions in light of the scheduled 2024 elections.
(Reporting by Deisy Buitrago; Writing by Mayela Armas and Sarah Morland; Editing by David Gregorio)
