Attempts to end Venezuela’s years-long political crisis took a major step this week after the United States reportedly agreed to a long-sought deal with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
According to public reports, the U.S. will partially lift sanctions on Venezuela’s dilapidated oil industry in exchange for several political concessions from Maduro’s government, including scheduling a fixed date for the 2024 presidential elections, allowing opposition candidates to run in those elections and permitting international observers to monitor the entire process. In tandem, talks between Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition will resume after a nearly year-long hiatus.
Even with this good news, celebrations are far too premature.
There are a number of ways the deal could unravel during the implementation stage, Maduro’s tendency to stonewall the strongest among them. But assuming the deal is implemented in full, the fairly straightforward trade between Washington and Caracas will go a long way toward alleviating the intense economic hardship millions of Venezuelans have been experiencing even before Maduro ascended to power in 2013.
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