The US is not actively considering easing sanctions against Venezuela to obtain energy resources and its position on Venezuela hasn’t changed.
And a regional declaration on migration and protection will be signed by regional countries in June when the US hosts the Summit of the Americas. There are projections of a “pipeline” for Venezuelan refugees to resettlement programmes and to match unemployed people with the need for labour in places like the US, Canada and Mexico.
This was indicated yesterday by Senior Director for Transborder Security at the US National Security Council, Katie Tobin, during a media briefing with regional media called to address US president Joe Biden’s recent meeting with Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez and “recent developments concerning Venezuela.”
Repeated questions were raised on recent talks the US held with Venezuela and Venezuela’s subsequent release of two US citizens who’d been jailed there.
On whether the release of the two US nationals would move the situation forward with ease up of any of the US sanctions on Venezuela, Tobin said, “The President made clear we were focused on bringing home some of our US citizens – that was the narrow and exclusive focus of that visit.”
Asked whether the US is actively considering easing sanctions on Venezuela to obtain energy resources from Venezuela, Tobin said, “No.”
Asked if the US’ recent talks with Venezuela was a contradiction with its long-standing view that Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro was a dictator, Tobin said, “Our position as it related to Venezuela hasn’t changed.
“We continue to be deeply concerned about the acts of Maduro against his people and we went there with a specific mission of bringing back Americans. We’ll continue to support countries like Colombia that are hosting refugees and migrants from Venezuela and we’ll continue to put pressure to make much-needed changes.”
She couldn’t speak to queries on whether NATO could be used on Maduro. Nor was she in a position to speak on negotiations with Venezuela and whether oil was discussed.
Tobin was asked whether the US suspension of Russian fuel imports means any possibility of negotiation with Maduro’s government.
“No, there’s no connection there,” she replied.
Tobin was also asked whether the US stance on Venezuela changed with the recent talks and whether Maduro is wanted or charged by the US Justice Department on drug trafficking, narco-terrorism or other criminal charges. “I’m really not in a position to speak about anything related to Venezuela,” she added.
The meeting between Biden and Duque was to respond to a growing refugee crisis due to the Russian conflict with Ukraine.
Tobin added there was also recognition that in the Western hemisphere, “we’re also facing historic displacement crisis with seven million people displaced between Venezuela and other nations. Few countries have been impacted as much as Colombia.”
Biden praised Colombia for accepting two million people and acknowledged far more is needed to support countries like Colombia, which are on the frontline of refugee/migration crises and the hemisphere’s migration challenges require all working together.
Tobin said Biden used the visit to call for a new framework for how regional nations can collectively manage migration in the Western Hemisphere. Canada and Mexico are committed to joining this and the US has been engaging with countries across the hemisphere on it since “we cannot continue with the status quo.”
“Our goal is to sign a regional declaration on migration and protection in June in Los Angeles, when the US hosts the Summit of the Americas. We’ll be working with governments and other key stakeholders in coming months to develop this framework.”
Tobin said the US recognised the need to strengthen responsibility sharing in the region.
“One way we can do that and reduce irregular migration and provide safe more humane pathways is through refugee resettlement. So we’ll be looking to see how the US and other Governments can provide a pipeline for Venezuelan refugees to formal resettlement programmes,” she said.
“We also see how real opportunities with labour shortage in many countries - the US, Canada, Mexico - how we can match those that are unemployed and are migrating to find jobs with countries desperately in need of workers.
“So labour mobility is another area of focus when it comes to legal pathways...we’ll be looking to engage other Governments in the region to see how we can work together to create formal channels for temporary worker opportunities.”
Tobin was asked about countries requiring Venezuelans to have entry visas, whether the declaration or discussions would focus on that and if the US would ask South-Latin American countries not to have this.
Tobin said, “We’ll be discussing humane migration management - looking to have a more common approach across the hemisphere with how we process people who arrive at borders, how we do protection screenings, repatriations for people who don’t qualify.
“These are policies that depict the need to increase coordination and common approach on that. So visas will be one piece of that.”
IOM data shows 77 per cent vaccinations amid Venezuelan migrants
Meanwhile, representatives from the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Port-of-Spain office have said that a total of 1,376 Venezuelan migrants, over the age of 18 years, participated in its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) for 2021 and that data reflected that 77 per cent of the respondents were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, whilst 7 per cent had received one shot and 16 per cent were unvaccinated.
It was also revealed that 65 per cent of the interviewees experienced difficulties since the start of the COVID-19, with the major issue being worsened quality of food, and 66 per cent of the respondents lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
“Yet in spite of these circumstances, 57 per cent of the respondents received support primarily from religious organisations and international organisations,” the IOM said.
The DTM also determined that 20.3 per cent of the respondents were engaged in domestic/cleaning work, followed by commerce at 19.9 per cent, construction at 16.7 per cent and tourism/hospitality/entertainment at 15.9 per cent.
In addition, it was noted that more than half of the instances of unpaid work (57 per cent) reportedly occurred in the construction sector, with the agriculture sector having the second- highest number of incidents at 9.5 per cent.
Further to this, 53 per cent of the interviewees were employed in the informal sector, 27 per cent of the respondents working in the formal sector and 37 per cent of the respondents working in the informal sector were underpaid.
The data also informed that 51 per cent of the respondents felt discriminated against because of their nationality, which represented an eight-percentage points reduction from 2019 DTM.
The 2021 DTM exercise in Trinidad and Tobago commenced in August 2021 and was funded by the United States Department of State (USDOS) Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) and managed by the IOM. Additionally, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) contributed financial and technical support to the initiative and has strategically collaborated with the IOM over the years.