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Venezuela's president calls for new phase of relations with US

"I would like to say that today there is total agreement in the world on the need to lift all criminal sanctions. Venezuela has the right to freedom of economy and trade," Nicolas Maduro underlined

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro AP Photo/Matias Delacroix

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro

© AP Photo/Matias Delacroix

CARACAS, October 19. /TASS/. Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has called for a new phase of relations with the United States after the easing of US sanctions following the conclusion of agreements at talks in Barbados between the government and the radical opposition on settling the domestic political situation and holding democratic presidential elections in the second half of 2024.

"Let's restore relations of respect and cooperation for the sake of peace throughout the Western Hemisphere, throughout the Americas and the Caribbean," Maduro said at a reception at the Miraflores presidential palace for the government delegation to the Barbados talks, broadcast by the state-run Venezolana de Television.

"I would like to say that today there is total agreement in the world on the need to lift all criminal sanctions. Venezuela has the right to freedom of economy and trade. This is a worldwide agreement, whoever you talk to about this: Mexico’s President Lopez Obrador, Brazil’s Lula da Silva or Colombia’s Gustavo Petro. The peoples of the world say that it is necessary to stop the economic aggression against Venezuela," Maduro said. "The aggression must not be repeated and all criminal sanctions against our economy, our country and our people must be lifted."

The head of the government delegation to the talks in Barbados with the opposition Unitary Platform, Speaker of the Venezuelan National Assembly Jorge Rodriguez, announced temporary six-month licenses adopted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury, which include commercial transactions in the oil and gold sectors of the economy, allowing investment and import operations in the oil and gas sector, as well as with the state-owned mining company Minerven. The ban on trading in sovereign shares and debt obligations of the state oil and gas company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) is lifted.

According to Rodriguez, the OFAC decisions indicate "a progressive process and a long stride towards the lifting of all sanctions imposed on Venezuela."

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