President Trump’s top Venezuela adviser vowed to continue tightening the screw on the regime of Nicolas Maduro by causing increasing economic pain until the Venezuelan leader permits democracy in his country or steps down.
“Pressure will continue and will build steadily until a free and fair election” occurs, Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams told reporters in a State Department briefing. “The president is determined to continue and strengthen his policy toward Venezuela,” Abrams said, citing U.S. demands that Maduro step down in the absence of democratic elections.
On Tuesday, the Department of Treasury announced new sanctions against an arm of Russian oil trading giant Rosneft, which the government charged with keeping Maduro afloat. Sanctions against a Venezuelan airline were enacted two weeks ago, shortly after opposition leader Juan Guaido’s visit to Washington and his address to South Florida’s Venezuelan community, an important base of support for the president in the swing state of Florida.
Countries and companies doing business with Venezuela will need to assume a cost-benefit calculation, and the U.S. government expects a winnowing of those willing to do so while sanctions are in place. Dealing with U.S. sanctions is “complicated and expensive,” Abrams said.
In addition to U.S. sanctions, the multilateral effort to secure a democratic transition of power includes the organization of regional and European states known as the Lima Group, European Union sanctions, and the reactivation of the Rio Treaty “hemispheric defense” doctrine. Maduro and his aides publicly denounced the Rio Treaty last year, which they said could be used to justify military intervention.
There is no evidence that Venezuela is considering a move to democratic elections, Abrams said, and he would not discuss any possible consequences of a failure to do so. The last democratic election was held in 2015, in which Maduro’s administration lost “by a landslide.”
“There will be more steps and further pressure in the coming weeks and months,” he said.
The United States accuses Rosneft of helping Venezuela bypass sanctions to sell oil overseas. Sanctioning Rosneft will “hurt” Maduro’s finances, Abrams said.
Opposition leader Juan Guaido met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell last month, “surprising” the regime.
