MIAMI - In an effort to defund Venezuela's repressive Nicolas Maduro regime, two U.S. representatives from Florida have re-introduced a bipartisan act that would cut into a revenue source.
On Friday, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, co-chair of the Congressional Venezuela Democracy Caucus, and Maria Elvira Salazar, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, re-introduced the bipartisan Revoke Exemptions for Venezuelan Oil to Curb Autocratic Repression Act, or REVOCAR Act. It would prohibit new and existing U.S. Treasury Department licenses for individuals and companies so they can do business with Venezuela's state-run oil producer Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., better known as PDVSA.
In October 2023, the U.S. eased sanctions on the Maduro government after it agreed to work with members of the opposition to hold a free and competitive presidential election in the following year.
Last April, the Biden administration reimposed crushing oil sanctions on Venezuela, admonishing President Nicolas Maduro for his attempts to consolidate his rule by jailing government critics and blocking opposition leader Maria Corina Machado from registering her candidacy.
The sanctions made it illegal for U.S. companies to do business with Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. unless they had a specific license from the U.S. Treasury Department. The REVOCAR Act would rescind the special licenses.
Wasserman Schultz and Salazar's reintroduction of the REVOCAR Act comes as Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term despite not providing detailed results of the July 28 election. Venezuela's opposition party, which collected the tally sheets from eighty percent of the voting machines, said they showed a clear victory for Edmundo González, who reportedly received twice as many votes as Maduro. The alleged theft of the election by Maduro brought a global outcry.
"Oil exports are the lifeline of the socialist Maduro regime. They are what fuels the repressive apparatus being used to deny the democratic voice of the Venezuelan people. By going after Maduro's blood money, we give the freedom fighters taking the streets in support of President-elect Edmundo Gonzalez a chance to exercise their God-given political freedom," Salazar said in a statement.
In a statement, Wasserman Schultz said the U.S. must always support peaceful, pro-democracy movements and shun autocrats no matter who's in the White House.
"Rescinding these special licenses, which exclusively serve to subsidize the regime's crony corruption, violent repression, and flagrant human rights abuses, are critical to meaningfully rejecting Maduro's election theft. We cannot afford to cave to fossil fuel companies' investors at the expense of democracy, dignity and justice," said Wasserman Schultz.
REVOCAR Act prohibitions would extend for three years or until the president certifies that a democratic transfer of power to González has taken place.
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin plans to introduce corresponding legislation in the Senate.
