The United States has said it is reconsidering the possibility of easing economic sanctions imposed on Venezuela, given the lack of progress towards the release of “unfairly detained” Americans and”political prisoners”.
According to a statement published by the State Department, Washington first welcomes the announcement in Caracas on Thursday of an agreement allowing opposition leaders seeking to compete against Nicolas Maduro in the 2024 presidential elections to appeal the decision of their ineligibility to run.
“This is an important development,” said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, confirming in the statement issued under the heading “reconsideration of easing our sanctions on Venezuela” that the United States calls for the “return of all candidates”.
“But we are deeply concerned about the lack of progress regarding the release of unfairly detained American citizens and Venezuelan political prisoners,”he added.
“We continue our active diplomatic moves in relation to these issues,” he said, stressing that Washington will announce the next steps in the coming days.
The United States announced in mid-October the easing of sanctions imposed on Venezuela in the oil and gas sectors in response to an agreement between the government and the opposition to organize presidential elections in 2024.
