During an interview with “PBS NewsHour” aired on Friday, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan argued that squeezing Venezuela’s oil sector hasn’t worked and that more targeted sanctions and rewards for information leading to the arrest of bad actors are “the best way to put the pressure on and try to create a circumstance in which positive change comes to Venezuela.”
“NewsHour” Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent Nick Schifrin asked, “Today’s the third inauguration of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, despite the fact that he lost the election. The administration is announcing new sanctions and visa restrictions on Maduro and his team and increasing the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest or conviction. Why not also cancel the licenses that allow Chevron and other energy companies to operate in Venezuela that provide the regime much of its money?”
Sullivan answered, “What we’re trying to do is take an approach that really focuses on the bad actors, the individuals who are responsible for the brutality and repression and sham that was the presidential election last year. That form of sanctions, targeted sanctions, rewards against them, is the best way to put the pressure on and try to create a circumstance in which positive change comes to Venezuela.”
Schifrin then said, “But if the goal is to put pressure on, surely, the best pressure would be to cut off Maduro’s main source of income.”
Sullivan responded, “Going back multiple administrations, we’ve been squeezing Venezuela economically, including in their oil sector. That didn’t work under President Trump. The kinds of sanctions you’re talking about which were previously in place didn’t have the intended effect.”
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