Maduro pushes negotiations with the United States

Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro has been waiting for the Biden administration to negotiate a deal that would bring relief to US sanctions against the country with the world's largest oil reserves, he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. Venezuela's oil industry has collapsed in recent years due to the domestic political crisis and American sanctions. The US "maximum pressure" campaign on Maduro's sources of income - oil being the most important - began in early 2019 to cripple Venezuelan oil exports. At the same time, a lack of investment in the oil industry, years of mismanagement and corruption as well as hyperinflation in Venezuela exacerbated the problems for the oil sector in the country, which has the largest crude oil reserves in the world. The pandemic also paralyzed economic activity in the South American country. Maduro is hoping for a deal with the US that could bring foreign capital to the country, including the oil industry. But: "There hasn't been a single positive sign," he told Bloomberg. "None." "If Venezuela is unable to produce and sell oil, cannot produce and sell its gold, cannot produce and sell its bauxite, cannot To produce iron and so on, and not be able to generate any revenue in the international market, how is it going to pay the Venezuelan bondholders for it? " said Maduro. Last month, Venezuela released the six US executives of Citgo, the US subsidiary of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, from prison and placed them under house arrest in what US media sources described as a gesture of goodwill by the Maduro's regime since the Biden -Administration revised its policy towards Venezuela. The six US executives at Citgo were first arrested by Maduro's regime in Venezuela in November 2017, and the "Citgo 6" were in jail two years after their arrest. In December 2019, Venezuela released the six Citgo executives under house arrest, only to be picked up again two months later by Maduro's secret service SEBIN, shortly after Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaidó met with then US President Donald Trump in the White House.