General License 44, which authorized some operations, will be canceled as of this Thursday. Companies affected by the cancellation will have until May 31 to complete the operations included in that measure.

The measure was valid for six months but could be renewed if the United States assessed that Maduro was taking the promised steps. But Washington denounces the "worrying campaign of harassment and intimidation against opposition figures simply for exercising their political rights to assemble and campaign." The Venezuelan electoral commission has disqualified the opposition leader Mara Corina Machado, winner by a large majority of the primaries on her platform, as a candidate. Given the repeated blockades, the Unitary Platform that brings together the main opposition parties has ended up proposing Edmundo González Urrutia on an interim basis. The Biden Administration maintains that the decision announced this Wednesday has been made after a process that has included consultations with its partners in the region, including Colombia. The U.S. considers that "they have not fulfilled one of the most important commitments. fundamental'. Washington also does not want to risk unleashing an avalanche of Venezuelan migrants towards the southern border of the United States. The transition period of 45 days is intended to allow those affected by the measure "to close their operations in an orderly manner and not cause undesired effects," senior officials of the Biden Administration said. They also specify that the lifting of the measure will not affect the particular licenses that Washington grants, on a case-by-case basis, to certain companies that request to be able to trade with Venezuelan gas and oil. Individual permits may continue to be requested, they said. And the withdrawal of the license "should not be perceived as a final decision that we have stopped believing that Venezuela can hold inclusive and competitive elections," they stressed, pointing out the possibility of reestablishing it or approving a similar measure if Caracas opted for applying the steps that Washington demands.