“I understand that the interim government had no chance to prevent Gustavo Petro’s government from recognizing power of (Nicholas) Ripe to control Monomer and to think that it could affect the revocation of the OFAC license is an illusion”, he stressed. attorney appointed by the interim president, Enrique Sanchez Falcon.

As reviewed cocuyo effectthe official, who is part of Juan Guaido’s government, acknowledged that the United States government had “superior” control will decide according to their interests, but never return it to the interim government“

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury issues licenses that: allow fertilizer companies to operate without sanctions under the leadership of an ad hoc council appointed by Juan Guaido.

However, even though the Joe Biden administration recognizes Guaido as interim president, this Not that his permit will be revoked once the transfer to Maduro is complete.said the former interim lawyer Jose Ignacio Hernandez.

The professor of administrative and constitutional law explained that the license not conditioned for Guaidó .’s confession as interim president, at least unequivocally: “If Petro recognizes Maduro and he appoints a new administrator, that a single change will not suffice to invalidate the license, it will remain in effect until it is revoked“

According to him, the US government can make three decisions if Petro officially recognizes Maduro:

– Keep the license under the same terms as approved.

– Apply new conditions licenses that prevent, for example, Monómeros finances the Maduro Government.

– revoke licensea decision that will impact Colombian agribusiness, which relies heavily on fertilizers produced by Monómeros.

“It’s not that simple the license will be lost if Maduro regains control of Monomeros, it will be in effect until it is revoked. The license is not for the interim government but for MonomerHernandez repeated.

The new Ambassador of Colombia in Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, working so that the company is not penalized if it is returned to Maduro. The diplomat revealed that he had spoken to US officials to explain that if the US included Monomeros on the Clinton list (sanctions list) it would seriously affect the country’s food security.

So the United States too must consider how this kind of decision will damage its relationship with its major Latin American partner have. It is also inconvenient for Colombia to enter into conflict with a country in the north, but it is necessary to lower food prices and Monomeros is essential for this.

Maduro didn’t win either

Hernández underlined that the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Colombia and Venezuela does not imply that Maduro has Venezuelan legal representationat least still.

For this to happen, Petro or the Foreign Minister must issue a decree formally recognizing Maduro as president: “That would be the only decision Colombia would need for Maduro to regain control of the company.“

To exemplify this situation, the lawyer referred to the UK, a country with which Maduro has diplomatic relations (has a proxy appointed by the ruling party), but recognizes Guaido as Venezuela’s president and therefore blocks access to Venezuelan gold, added cocuyo effect.

“Diplomatic relations is one thing and legal representation is another, they generally go together, but they can be separated, that’s unusual, but not contradictory,” he argues.

“The Petro governmentto restore diplomatic relations with Venezuelabut maintain the status quo of the interim government in Monómeros at least until the United States government reaches a decision that allows keeping Monómeros if the government switches to the Maduro regime,” he added.

Other aspects that Petro should consider are the financial risk Maduro could pose at the head of the Monómeros government.

“Petro must assess that, even assuming that Ofac’s license is maintained with Maduro in charge, Maduro’s Monómeros would be at enormous financial risk as he and most of his elite are sanctioned and they generate reputational risk.” , he warned.