The US government is actively evaluating an oil embargo against Venezuela in order to put more pressure on the country’s President Nicolas Maduro., sources within the Trump administration told media on Wednesday.
According to reports, the White House, the National Security Council, the State Department and the Treasury Department are currently considering different mechanisms to remove elected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from office ahead of April 22 elections.
Washington’s escalating actions against Caracas come as Venezuela prepares for presidential elections, which the Trump administration says it won’t recognize.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has attempted to boost international support for its proposed oil embargo against Venezuela.
A US embargo on Venezuelan crude – the source of over ninety-percent of Venezuela’s export earnings – would likely have a significant negative impact on a country already experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades.
Venezuela was the fourth largest supplier of crude oil and products to the United States in 2017, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Thomson Reuters trade data shows that Venezuelan crude oil sales to the United States last year were the lowest since 1991.
Washington has already imposed financial sanctions on Caracas, forbidding American citizens and companies to negotiate debt issued by the Venezuelan government and the state oil company PDVSA.
