The Venezuelan government and opposition have called on the United Nations to take control of billions of dollars held in foreign banks, and these funds will be gradually released to address the humanitarian crisis in the oil-rich country. The freeze will be lifted on Saturday, a delegation announced in Mexico City on Saturday.
Sources told Reuters last month that the frozen funds amounted to more than $3 billion.
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Following the announcement, the U.S. Treasury Department granted oil company Chevron a license to expand its operations in Venezuela, allowing it to import Venezuelan crude oil into the United States.
Norwegian mediator Doug Nylander hailed the agreement as a “historic milestone”, but the country’s crisis could only be resolved by the Venezuelans themselves.
Representatives of the Venezuelan government arrived in Mexico City on Friday to sign an agreement with their political opponents.
The government delegation was led by deputy Jorge Rodríguez of Venezuela’s ruling United Socialist Party (PSUV), while the opposition group was led by politician Gerard Blyde.
The ‘Social Protection’ fund will help prevent Venezuelans from fleeing their country by funding infrastructure projects to improve access to food, medicine and healthcare and to repair the country’s power grid. There is a possibility.
The fund is part of a broader agenda covering US sanctions against Venezuela, the terms of the 2024 presidential election, and the status of hundreds of political prisoners.
However, these issues will not be discussed at this meeting.
The United Nations estimates that more than 7.1 million Venezuelans have left the country this year, many of them emigrating to other Latin American countries and the United States. The country suffers from high inflation, food and medicine shortages.
The United Nations estimates that more than half of Venezuelan migrants do not have access to three meals a day.
In Venezuela itself, more than half of the population experienced moderate or severe food insecurity last year, according to a local university study.
read more: US prepares to approve Chevron to boost Venezuela’s oil production
