On Wednesday, President Trump reportedly said that he was revoking a Biden-era license that had permitted Chevron to produce oil in Venezuela because of what he claimed was Nicolás Maduro’s refusal to help repatriate migrants.
The action reverses the administration’s month-long reconciliation with Maduro and seems to be a blow to Chevron, the American oil giant that was given a 2022 exemption from US sanctions by former President Joe Biden to operate in Venezuela.
Although Trump made no mention of Chevron, he announced on his social media network, Truth Social, that he intended revoke the license that the firm had received its concession on November 26, 2022.
According to Trump, Chevron’s license will expire on March 1 and the firm would have to shut down its activities in Venezuela within a few months.
Later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X that he was sending “foreign policy guidance to terminate all Biden-era oil and gas licenses that have shamefully bankrolled the illegitimate Maduro regime” in response to the president’s request.
Trump made his declaration over a month after Maduro and top White House envoy Richard Grenell met in Caracas to reach an agreement that would resume deportation flights to the nation.
Many regional observers believed this agreement indicated the president would permit the oil to continue flowing.
After almost eight million Venezuelans fled the nation under Maduro’s 12-year rule due to political repression and economic contraction, Maduro has long refused to accept deportees.
The agreement, according to U.S. officials, involved Venezuela returning members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which has been implicated in a number of high-profile crimes in the United States.
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