Trump halts Chevron operations in Venezuela

US President Donald Trump announced that he will revoke the “concessions” granted by his predecessor, Joe Biden , to Venezuela on November 26, 2022 , when the oil company Chevron was again authorized to operate in the Caribbean country.

The “oil transaction agreement” is linked to “electoral conditions within Venezuela, which are not met by the regime of (President Nicolás ) Maduro ,” he says on his network Truth Social .

Washington does not recognize Maduro's re-election for a third term (2025-2031) and supports the exiled Edmundo González Urrutia , who claims victory in the presidential elections last July and attended Trump's inauguration on January 20. The Republican also accuses the government of the Chavista leader of not collecting Venezuelan migrants in an irregular situation at the pace "that they had agreed upon."

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Venezuela's reaction was not long in coming: "We categorically reject this type of action publicly requested by the country's extremist and failed opposition," said Vice President and Minister of Hydrocarbons, Delcy Rodríguez , in a statement.

This refers not only to González Urrutia, but also to María Corina Machado , who are living in hiding. The latter will participate on Wednesday in a podcast with Donald Trump Jr. , son of the American president.

Trump's decision on Chevron could be a slap in the face for Maduro

Trump's decision, which Rodriguez describes as "harmful and inexplicable," could be a slap in the face for Maduro.

“A revocation of licenses has a significant macroeconomic impact, especially on the flow of income and, therefore, on the exchange rate expectations that deteriorate and inflation, rather than growth,” explained Venezuelan economist Asdrúbal Oliveros .

However, Francisco Monaldi , director of the Latin American Energy Program at the Baker Institute at Rice University in Texas , recommends waiting because he does not rule out Trump using it “to get Maduro to give in to what he wants.”

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“We have to wait for what OFAC says,” the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department , which must rule before March 1, he said.

Leonardo Vera, an academic, believes that it could be “a threat that can eventually be contained.”