Venezuela court pause adds to sanctions uncertainty

A chamber of Venezuela's supreme court has gone into an indefinite recess as a ban on leading opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado stands, going against conditions the US set to continue suspending oil sanctions.

Venezuela's government vowed to allow free and fair presidential elections this year in an agreement brokered with its opposition in Barbados in October. The White House then further lifted already eased sanctions for six months on 18 October. Venezuela freed some political prisoners in the wake of this, but has not lifted bans on Machado from running in the next election, a move that the opposition says violates the Barbados agreement.

The supreme court yesterday announced that it will stop public proceedings while it takes an inventory of existing cases in its political-administrative chamber, which is hearing Machado's case.

"There will be no proceedings in this room until further notice due to an inventory of cases," a notice on the door of the court in Caracas reads.

The chamber had been shut last week as well because of power blackouts. Lawyers have been unable to access documentation related to the case, members of Machado's legal team said.

"The Maduro government is drifting away from Barbados," said Nelson Hernandez, industry veteran and professor at the Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas.

Today, in another action the opposition said violates the agreement, police entered by force the headquarters of the teachers' union in the state of Barinas. They arrested leader and Machado supporter Victor Venegas on allegations of conspiracy, Venezuela's attorney general said. Machado called for him to be freed.

The lifting of sanctions enabled by the Barbados agreement has let Venezuelan crude exports to the US reach a projected 240,000 b/d in January from about 43,000 b/d in January 2023, based on ship tracking data from Vortexa.

By Carlos Camacho