State Dept scraps Biden admin’s oil relief for socialist dictator

The Trump administration announced late Wednesday that it is revoking Biden administration-issued licenses for oil and gas development in Venezuela that provided much-needed financial relief to the socialist regime of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced his department’s policy change in a Wednesday night post to X, stating that he is “providing foreign policy guidance to terminate all Biden-era oil and gas licenses that have shamefully bankrolled the illegitimate Maduro regime.” The Biden administration broadly attempted to coax the Maduro regime into holding a free and fair election in exchange for easing pressure on the country’s heavily-sanctioned oil and gas sector, but those efforts evidently failed as Maduro continued to crack down on his opposition and has been accused of rigging the July 2024 elections.

Former President Joe Biden and his administration gave Chevron a license to operate in Venezuela in November 2022, freeing up some cash for the Maduro regime in exchange for moving toward a free and fair election, according to Reuters. A number of other U.S. and foreign companies have also been impacted by the changing sanctions environment in the Venezuelan oil and gas sector over the years.

The Biden administration furthered its oil-for-democracy agenda in Venezuela in October 2023 with additional sanctions relief, but those eased restrictions eventually snapped back into place in April 2024 after it became very clear that Maduro had little interest in allowing a real democratic process to play out.

“We are aware of today’s announcement and are considering its implications,” a Chevron spokesperson said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Chevron conducts its business in Venezuela in compliance with all laws and regulations, including the sanctions framework provided by U.S. government.“

In his first term, President Donald Trump imposed harsh 2019 sanctions on Venezuela’s state-owned oil company to push Maduro into stepping down after the prior year’s reportedly fraudulent presidential election. Maduro was a staunch ally of deceased former Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, and, like Chavez, Maduro’s government has been known to weaponize the country’s legal system against political opposition, according to Amnesty International.

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