Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-zpzq9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-09T07:25:58.179Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - US Economic and Financial Sanctions against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 March 2025

Caf Dowlah
Caf Dowlah
Affiliation:
University of Miami Law School
Get access

Summary

This chapter traces the evolution of US sanctions against Venezuela – a South American nation with once-positive relations that shifted during the presidency of Hugo Chavez in 1998. As Chavez aimed to reclaim control of the country’s oil industry from international capital, tensions escalated. The narrative spans eras, highlighting sanctions during Chavez’s tenure and their intensification under Nicholas Maduro from 2013. Delving into impacts, the chapter dissects their toll on Venezuela’s economy and citizens – economic downturn, steep decline in oil production, and critical shortages of food and medicine. Legal aspects are explored, scrutinizing international principles like necessity, proportionality, non-intervention, and judicial interventions that shape the sanctions’ legality.

Keywords

Sanctions against VenezuelaSanctions against Chavez regimeSanctions against Maduro governmentSanctions against Venezuela and international lawSanctions and exodus of Venezuelan population
Type
Chapter
Information
Economic and Financial Sanctions of the United States
Legal Perspectives
 , pp. 297 - 322
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Akande, D., Payam, A.., and Bjorge, E.. 2021. Economic Sanctions, International Law, and Crimes against Humanity: Venezuela’s Referral to the International Criminal Court. American Journal of International Law. doi.org/10.1017/ajil.2021.20.Google Scholar
Ashley, L. 2021. Unilateral Coercive Measures: Towards International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights. In Subedi, S. (ed.), Unilateral Sanctions in International Law, pp. 233–254. Oxford: Hart Publishing.Google Scholar
Baburkin, S. et al. 1999. The 1992 Coup Attempts in Venezuela: Causes and Failure. Journal of Political & Military Sociology, 27(1):141–154.Google Scholar
Bachelet, M. 2020. Urgent Call for Re-evaluating Assistance to Countries Facing the Coronavirus Pandemic. Statement of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, March 24, 2020. Available at: www.ohchr.org/en/2020/03/bachelet-calls-easing-sanctions-enable-medical-systems-fight-covid-19-and-limit-global, accessed on December 22, 2022.Google Scholar
Bahar, D. et al. 2018. Venezuela: A Path Out of Misery. Policy Brief. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Beucillon, C. 2016. Practice Makes Perfect, Eventually? Unilateral State Sanctions and the Extraterritorial Effects of State Legislation. In Ronzitti, N. (ed.), Coercive Diplomacy, Sanctions and International Law, pp. 103–126. Boston: Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beucillon, C. (Ed.). 2021. Research Handbook on Unilateral and Extraterritorial Sanctions. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bisson, M. (Ed.). 2019. Venezuela in Focus: Economic, Political and Social Issues. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.Google Scholar
Bogdanova, I. 2021. Targeted Economic Sanctions and WTO Law: Examining the Adequacy of the National Security Exception. Legal Issues of Economic Integration. May Issue. doi.org/10.54648/LEIE2021010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, P. 2018. Venezuela Oil Sector Sanctions: Market and Trade Impacts. Congressional Research Service (CRS). IN11037. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Brown, P. 2020. Oil Market Effects from U.S. Economic Sanctions: Iran, Russia, Venezuela. Congressional Research Service (CRS). R46213. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Bull, B., and Rosales, A.. 2020. The Crisis in Venezuela: Drivers, Transitions, and Pathways. European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 109(2020):107–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buxton, J. 2020. Continuity and Change in Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution. Third World Quarterly, 41(8):1371–1387.Google Scholar
Camilleri. 2021. Evolution or Revolution? U.S. Policy on Venezuela from Obama to Trump. The Dialogue. Available at: www.thedialogue.org/analysis/evolution-or-revolution-u-s-policy-on-venezuela-from-obama-to-trump/.Google Scholar
Cannon, B., and Brown, J.. 2016. Venezuela 2016: The Year of Living Dangerously. Revista de Ciencia Política, 37(2):613–633. Maynooth University, Ireland. Available at: www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=32453264017.Google Scholar
Cheatham, A., and Roy, D.. 2023. Venezuela: The Rise and Fall of a Petrostate. Council on Foreign Relations, Washington, DC. Accessible at www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis.Google Scholar
Chercheneff, L. 2021. Challenging Unilateral and Extraterritorial Sanctions under International Economic Law: Exploring Leads at the WTO and the OECD. In Beucillon, C. (ed.), Research Handbook on Unilateral and Extraterritorial Sanctions, pp. 239–256. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Corrales, J., and Penfold, M.. 2011. Dragon in the Tropics. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Corrales, J., and Romero, C.. 2012. U.S.-Venezuela Relations since the 1990s: Coping with Midlevel Security Threats. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Cheatham, A., and Roy, D.. 2023. Venezuela: The Rise and Fall of a Petrostate. Council on Foreign Relations, Washington, DC. Available at: www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis.Google Scholar
Damrosch, L. 2019. The Legitimacy of Economic Sanctions as Countermeasures for Wrongful Acts. Ecology Law Quarterly, 46:95–111.Google Scholar
Davis, S., and Ness, I.. 2021. Introduction: Why Are Economic Sanctions a Form of War? In Davis, S., and Ness, I. (eds.), Sanctions as War: Anti-imperialist Perspectives on American Geo-economic Strategy, pp. 1–24. Leiden and Boston: Brill.Google Scholar
Dawidowicz, M. 2017. Third-Party Countermeasures in International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di-John, J. 2009. From Windfall to Curse?: Oil and Industrialization in Venezuela, 1920 to the Present. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Dupont, P. 2012. Countermeasures and Collective Security. The Case of EU Sanctions against Iran. Journal of Conflict and Security Law, 17(3):301–336.Google Scholar
ECLAC. 2014. Social Panorama of Latin America. Mexico: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.Google Scholar
Ellis, R. 2017. The Collapse of Venezuela and Its Impact on the Region. Military Review, July-August issue.Google Scholar
Ellner, S., and Hellinger, D.. 2003. Venezuelan Politics in the Chavez Era: Class, Polarization, and Conflict. Boulder, CO, and London: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Erikson, D. 2005. Cuba, China, Venezuela: New Developments. The 2005 Annual Proceedings of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy. Available at: www.ascecuba.org/c/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/v15-erikson.pdf.Google Scholar
Galbraith, J. 2019. Contemporary Practice of the United States. American Journal of International Law, 113:601–608.Google Scholar
Gallegos, R. 2016. Crude Nation: How Oil Riches Ruined Venezuela. Washington, DC: Potomac Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gates, L. 2023. Capitalist Outsiders: Oil’s Legacy in Mexico and Venezuela. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Gill, T. 2017, Embattled Venezuela Can Still Count on International Lifelines, From Russia to China. World Politics Review, January 12. Available at: www.worldpoliticsreview.com/embattled-venezuela-can-still-count-on-international-lifelines-from-russia-to-china/.Google Scholar
Gill, T. 2019. Shifting Imperial Strategies in Contemporary Latin America: The U.S. Empire and Venezuela under Hugo Chávez. Journal of Historical Sociology, 32(3):294–310.Google Scholar
Giusti, L. 1999. La Apertura: The Opening of Venezuela’s Oil Industry. Journal of International Affairs, 53(1):117–128.Google Scholar
Grandin, G. 2006. Empire’s Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism. New York: Owl Book.Google Scholar
Gutmann, J. et al. 2018. Economic Sanctions and Human Rights: Quantifying the Legal Proportionality Principle. Research Papers in Economics, No. 2/18. Universität Trier, Germany.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hellinger, D. 2017. Oil and the Chávez Legacy. Latin American Perspectives, 44(1):54–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hellinger, D., and Spanakos, A.. 2017. The Legacy of Hugo Chávez. Latin American Perspectives, 44(1):4–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hernandez, I. 2018. Venezuela and U.S. Sanctions: Some Considerations. IAEE Energy Forum. Third Quarter.Google Scholar
Hernandez, I., and Monaldi, F.. 2016. Weathering Collapse: An Assessment of the Financial and Operational Situation of the Venezuelan Oil Industry. Center for International Development at Harvard University, Nov. 2016.Google Scholar
Hofer, A. 2017. The Developed/Developing Divide on Unilateral Coercive Measures: Legitimate Enforcement or Illegitimate Intervention. Chinese Journal of International Law, 16(2):175–214.Google Scholar
Hofer, A. 2018. The Curiouser and Curiouser: Legal Nature of Non-UN Sanctions: The Case of the US Sanctions against Russia. Journal of Conflict & Security Law, 23(1):75–104.Google Scholar
Hufbauer, G. et al. 2007. Economic Sanctions Reconsidered: History and Current Policy. Washington, DC: Patterson Institute for International Economics.Google Scholar
Johnson, K. 2018. How Venezuela Struck It Poor. Foreign Policy, July 16.Google Scholar
Karl, T. 1977. The Paradox of Plenty: Oil Booms and Petro-States. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Liou, R., Amanda, M., and Peksen, D.. 2021. Revisiting the Causal Links between Economic Sanctions and Human Rights Violations. Political Research Quarterly, 74(4):808–821.Google Scholar
Miltimore, J. 2020. 8 Venezuelan Industries Hugo Chavez Nationalized (Besides Oil). FEE Stories, January 10, 2020. Available at: fee.org/articles/8-industries-hugo-chavez-nationalized-besides-oil-on-venezuelas-road-to-serfdom/.Google Scholar
Nossal, K. 1989. International Sanctions as International Punishment. International Organization, 43(2):301–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OHCHR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights). 2017. Human Rights Violations and Abuses in the Context of Protests in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela from 1 April to 31 July 2017, August 30, 2017. Geneva: United Nations.Google Scholar
Palacios, L., and Monaldi, F.. 2022. Venezuela Oil Sanctions: Not an Easy Fix. New York: Center for Global Energy, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.Google Scholar
Peksen, D. 2019. When Do Imposed Economic Sanctions Work? A Critical Review of the Sanctions Effectiveness Literature. Defense and Peace Economics, 30(6):635–647.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petras, J. 2010. U.S. Venezuelan Relations: Imperialism and Revolution. Voltaire Net. Available at: www.voltairenet.org/article163455.html, accessed on May 9, 2023.Google Scholar
Polga-Hecimovich, J. 2019. Bureaucratic Politicization, Partisan Attachments, and the Limits of Public Agency Legitimacy: The Venezuelan Armed Forces under Chavismo. Latin American Research Review, 54(2):476–498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prezas, I. 2021. From Targeted States to Affected Populations: Exploring Accountability for the Negative Impact of Comprehensive Unilateral Sanctions on Human Rights. In Beucillon, C. (ed.), Research Handbook on Unilateral and Extraterritorial Sanctions, pp. 385–404. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Ramsey, G., and Smilde, D.. 2020. Recalibrating U.S. Policy in Venezuela: Learning from Failure and Seizing Opportunities. Washington, DC: Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).Google Scholar
Regilme, S. 2022. United States Foreign Aid and Multilateralism under the Trump Presidency. New Global Studies. Available at: doi.org/10.1515/ngs-2021-0030.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rendon, M., and M. Price. 2019. Are Sanctions Working in Venezuela? Center for Strategic and International Studies (September 3, 2019). Available at: www.csis.org/analysis/are-sanctions-working-venezuela.Google Scholar
Rentner, S. 2004. Venezuela: How a Hydrocarbons Law Crippled an Oil Giant. Hastings International and Comparative Law Review, 27(2):351–362.Google Scholar
Riggirozzi, P. 2011. Region, Regionness and Regionalism in Latin America: Towards a New Synthesis. New Political Economy, 17(4):421–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rivas, D. 2002. Missionary Capitalist: Nelson Rockefeller in Venezuela. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Rodríguez, F. 2019. Sanctions and the Venezuelan Economy: What the Data Say. Torino Economics, June 19. Available at: sanctionsplatform.ohchr.org/record/4734.Google Scholar
Ross, M. 2015. What Have We Learned about the Resource Curse? Annual Review of Political Science, 18(1):239–259.Google Scholar
Ruys, T. 2017. Sanctions, Retortions and Countermeasures: Concepts and International Legal Framework. In Herik, L. (ed.), Research Handbook on UN Sanctions and International Law, pp. 19–51. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Salazar-Carrillo, J., and West, B.. 2004. Oil and Development in Venezuela during the 20th Century. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.Google Scholar
Santos, M. 2017. Venezuela: Running on Empty. LASA Forum, XLVIII(1):58–62.Google Scholar
Seelke, C. 2020. Venezuela: Background and U.S. Relations. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Services.Google Scholar
Seelke, C. 2022. Venezuela: Overview of U.S. Sanctions. Congressional Research Service. IF10715. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Seelke, C., and Nelson, R.. 2018. Venezuela: Background and U.S. Relations. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.Google Scholar
Seelke, C. et al. 2019. Venezuela: Background and U.S. Relations. Congressional Research Service. R44841. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Sylvia, R., and Danopoulos, C.. 2003. The Chávez Phenomenon: Political Change in Venezuela. Third World Quarterly, 24(1):63–76.Google Scholar
Tinker, M. 2005. Staying the Course: United States Oil Companies in Venezuela, 1945–1958. Latin American Perspectives, 32(2):147–170.Google Scholar
Tinker, M. 2015. Venezuela: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tzanakopoulos, A. 2015. The Right To Be Free from Economic Coercion. Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UN Rapporteur. 2018. UN Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights, ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur’, 17 July 2018, A/73/175.Google Scholar
UNGA (United Nations General Assembly). 2018. Report of the Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order on His Mission to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Ecuador. A/HRC/39/47/Add. 1, September 10–28. New York: United Nations. Available at: reliefweb.int/report/venezuela-bolivarian-republic/reportindependent-expert-promotion-democratic-and-equitable.Google Scholar
UNHCHR. 2019. Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Situation of Human Rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Retrieved from United Nations. Available at: www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session41/Documents/A_HRC_41_18.docx.Google Scholar
UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Council). 2014. Human Rights and Unilateral Coercive Measures. UNHRC Res. (03 October 2014). A/HRC/RES/27/21.Google Scholar
United Nations. 2019. Refugee and Migrant Response Plan 2020. U.N. Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela, Response for Venezuelans (RV4), Refugee and Migrant Response Plan 2020: January – December 2020, December 2019.Google Scholar
United Nations Rapporteur. 2017. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights, A/72/370 of 29 August 2017.Google Scholar
UNOCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs). 2020. Venezuela: Humanitarian Response Aims to Assist 4.5 million people in 2020. August 3, 2020.Google Scholar
USGA (United States Geological Survey). 2009. An Estimate of Recoverable Heavy Oil Resources of the Orinoco Oil Belt, Venezuela. Fact Sheet 2009-3028. Washington, DC: US Department of the Interior.Google Scholar
Victor, D., Hults, D.., and Thurber, M.. 2012. Oil and Governance: State-Owned Enterprises and the World Energy Supply. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Weisbrot, M., and Ray, R.. 2010. Update on the Venezuelan Economy. Center for Economic and Policy Research. Washington, DC. Available at: www.cepr.net/documents/publications/venezuela-2010-09.pdf.Google Scholar
Weisbrot, M., and Sachs, J.. 2019. Economic Sanctions as Collective Punishment: The Case of Venezuela. Washington, DC: Center for Economic and Policy Research. Available at: www.cepr.net/images/stories/reports/venezuelasanctions-2019-04.pdf.Google Scholar
Weisbrot, M. et al. 2009. The Chavez Administration at 10 Years: The Economy and Social Indicators. Center for Economic and Policy Research, Washington, DC. Available at: www.cepr.net/documents/publications/venezuela-2009-02.pdf.Google Scholar
Wynter, F. 2020. US Sanctions in Venezuela: Economic Crimes against Humanity? Opinio Juris, May 23.Google Scholar
Yergin, D. 1991. The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, & Power. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×