“We welcome the lifting of sanctions against Venezuelan oil, gas and gold, which should not be temporary, but total and permanent,” Arce wrote on Facebook.

The dignitary claimed in a post that “Venezuela has the legitimate and sovereign right to strengthen its oil and gold industry, without imperialist interference.”

The United States Department of the Treasury reported in a statement, that “general licenses were issued authorizing transactions involving Venezuela’s oil and gas sector, and gold sector, in addition to removing the ban on secondary trade.”

According to the Treasury, the decision is associated with the recent agreement signed between the Government of Venezuela and the opposition.

Washington’s blockade against Venezuelan oil has been in force since April 2019 and, except for this recently announced parenthesis, it limits its commercialization, which is vital for the country’s economy.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro described these decisions by Washington as a victory of the people, “who has resisted, who has fought; of the ordinary people, of the humble people, of the suffering people, of the people who have been attacked with criminal sanctions, of those people who have resisted and who persevered on a path.”

jrr/llp/rgh/jpm