The president of the United States (USA), Joe Biden, has extended for a year the Executive order of 2015, in which Venezuela is declared as an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the security of the North American nation.
According to Actualidad RT, the measure was taken this Tuesday, March 2; however, it was only published this Wednesday by the White House.
According to Biden, the actions described in the document “have not improved” and Venezuela “continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to US national security and foreign policy.”
With this decision, the US intensifies coercive and unilateral measures against Venezuela, which has made it difficult for the South American country to acquire medical supplies and food; as well as to combat the situation of the pandemic.
In accordance with this “national emergency,” Executive Order 13808 was issued, dated August 24, 2017, which prohibits the direct or indirect purchase of securities from the Government of Venezuela.
On February 2, the US Department of the Treasury issued a license authorizing certain “necessary” transactions for port and airport operations in Venezuela.
The “General License 30A” describes the process by which “all transactions and activities involving the Government of Venezuela prohibited by Executive Order (EO) 13884 of August 5, 2019 are authorized, which are normally incidents and necessary for the operations or use of ports and airports in Venezuela.
Also, according to the text signed by Bradley T. Smith, acting director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), transactions and activities that had been prohibited in Executive Order 13850 of November of 2018, modified in January 2019, involving the National Institute of Aquatic Spaces (INEA), or any entity in which this institution owns, directly or indirectly, a participation of 50% or more.
In this sense, the general license “does not authorize,” says the document, “any transaction or activity related to the export or re-export of diluents, directly or indirectly, to Venezuela.”
Nor does it allow transactions with any blocked person or institution other than INEA or the entities where it participates.
This is the first measure taken by the Joe Biden administration, installed on January 20, regarding the sanctions imposed against Caracas during the Trump administration, which included harsh unilateral coercive measures against Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) and Venezuelan officials.
