Rescheduled: The Future of the Barbados Accords: Holding the Maduro Regime Accountable

Please join the Americas Program for a timely conversation on the evolution of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and the recent escalation over the Essequibo.

The Biden administration hailed two partial accords between the Maduro regime and representatives of Venezuela’s opposition, signed in mid-October, as a pathway forward to “fair and competitive elections and a return to economic stability and security” in Venezuela. In return for signing the partial accords, the United States lifted sanctions against Venezuela’s oil and gold sectors for six months. Following the opposition primaries, where Maria Corina Machado garnered 92 percent of the vote, members of the opposition and the Maduro regime agreed to a process involving regime-controlled institutions for lifting candidate bans.

To this day, the regime has neither lifted the ban on Ms. Machado running for office, nor released any unjustly detained Americans or Venezuelan political prisoners. Moreover, Maduro's December 3 referendum on annexing Essequibo, and the heightened threat of conflict with Guyana, has the entire region on alert.

This event will focus on analyzing the trajectory of sanctions in Venezuela and how the recent escalation will impact the administration’s approach to negotiations with the Maduro regime

This event is made possible through general support to CSIS.