After Washington recognised self-proclaimed interim President Juan Guaido as the legitimate head of Venezuela, the US Treasury blocked all the assets of the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA and imposed a ban on making deals with it.
Reuters reported Saturday that, citing sources, the PDVSA plans to replace at least 2 American executives on the board of its subsidiary Citgo Petroleum Corp.
In the meantime, Washington has promised to soften its sanctions on the PDVSA if Caracas transfers control over the company to the opposition.
Amid mass protests across the country in January, head of Venezuela’s National Assembly Juan Guaido declared himself the Venezuelan interim president. The US, Canada and some other countries recognised him almost immediately, while the UK, Germany, France, and Spain later declared their intention to recognise Guaido if Caracas did not announce snap presidential elections within eight days.
In turn, Russia, Cuba, China, Turkey and Iran have given Maduro’s government their full support. Maduro also stressed that Venezuela had held legitimate elections and urged European countries to withdraw their demand.