"They tell a country it has permission to negotiate with
Venezuela, but it cannot pay in dollars or any form of cash. It
must pay with food or products," Maduro said in a broadcast.
"That is colonialism."
Maduro criticized the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign
Assets Control (OFAC), which issued the licenses, and said it
tries to dictate how to do business with Venezuela to state and
private companies.
"It is a joke to sovereign countries. I call sovereign
countries and governments in America and the Caribbean to
denounce this colonial model. We do not accept it, we will go on
our way," he said.
Maduro did not elaborate on any coming actions.
Following the license to Trinidad last week, Venezuela has
not said publicly if it will negotiate with the Caribbean
country.
(Reporting by Marianna Parraga)
By Vivian Sequera
CARACAS, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Nicolas
Maduro on Thursday lashed out at U.S. licenses barring companies
doing business with sanctioned Venezuelan state firms from
paying cash to his administration.
Washington last year authorized U.S. and European firms to
resume taking Venezuelan crude oil on the condition no funds be
paid to Venezuela. Last week, the United States authorized
Trinidad & Tobago to import gas from a Venezuelan offshore field
and barred cash from changing hands.
The permits were part of U.S. President Joe Biden's move to
encourage political talks between Maduro and the Venezuelan
opposition with the main goal of securing a fair presidential
election.
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