Venezuela puts US conditions for conducting joint business

Venezuela lost assets in Colombia due to US sanctions, and billions of dollars belonging to the country were also blocked, the foreign minister said.He called for depressurization of the Venezuelan industry by Jorge Arreas

Venezuela hopes that the US administration led by Joe Biden will take a constructive approach in relations with Caracas, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said at a conference of the Valdai Discussion Club in Moscow, RBC correspondent reports.

“We see that the pressure continues. We were kicked out of the IMF. We see an economic war, what our Iranian friends call economic terrorism,” the diplomat stated.

“If the United States wants to do business with Venezuela, <...> they must return our industry to us,” Arreaza urged. According to him, as a result of US sanctions, assets in Colombia were lost, and $6 billion belonging to Venezuela was also blocked.

“We hope for a return to legality because the sanctions are illegal,” Arreaza said. The minister did not rule out that the approach of the Biden administration would be different from that demonstrated by the previous US President Donald Trump.

Reuters learned about a possible easing of US sanctions against Venezuela Politics

The United States imposed sanctions against Venezuela in several rounds. As a result, hundreds of representatives of the authorities found themselves under personal restrictions, more than a thousand people had their American visas cancelled. During Trump's tenure, financial sanctions have been applied to hundreds of Venezuelan officials, including President Nicolas Maduro. Washington also imposed sanctions against tankers seen in the export of oil from the ports of Venezuela, as well as companies owning these vessels.

In February 2020, Maduro announced that Venezuela would file an international lawsuit against the US government due to damage to the country's companies.

Last week, Maduro, during an interview with Bloomberg, called on Biden to lift sanctions, normalize relations and end the "demonization of Venezuela." The State Department said in response that Washington could change its attitude towards Caracas if the Venezuelan authorities take measures to democratize the country, resolve the political crisis and restore economic and political freedoms.

The US administration has repeatedly made it clear that it will continue to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela. The politician declared himself acting head of state in January 2019 as a sign of disagreement with the inauguration of Maduro after the elections. Guaido was supported by the United States and most of the EU countries. Maduro called it an attempted coup. On his side were Russia , China and some other states.