The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Committee on Rules
BILL: SM 398
INTRODUCER: Senator Avila
SUBJECT: Venezuelan Sanctions
DATE: January 23, 2024 REVISED:
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Limones-Borja McVaney GO Favorable
2. Limones-Borja Twogood RC Favorable
I. Summary:
SM 398 is a memorial urging the United States Secretary of State to reinstate economic sanctions
on Nicolas Maduro and his Venezuelan dictatorship and the companies that do business with
Venezuela.
The Memorial has no force of law, as it is a mechanism for the Florida Senate to formally
petition the federal government to act on a particular subject.
The memorial does not have a fiscal impact on the state or local governments.
II. Present Situation:
Sanctions against Venezuela
The United States has imposed sanctions on Venezuelan individuals and entities that have
engaged in criminal, antidemocratic, and corrupt actions since 2005. The Trump administration
expanded those sanctions to include broader financial sanctions, sectoral sanctions, and sanctions
on the government of Nicolas Maduro.1 The broad sanctions began in August 2017 when
President Trump prohibited the Venezuelan government from accessing the U.S. financial
system.2 Then in 2019, the U.S. froze the Venezuelan government’s bank accounts in the U.S.
and prohibited all U.S. entities from engaging in transactions with the Maduro Government
without prior authorization from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control
(OFAC).3 The Trump administration also levied a series of industry-specific measures against
1
Clare Ribando Seelke, Congressional Research Center, Venezuela: Overview of U.S. Sanctions (Nov. 1, 2023), available at
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF10715 (Nov. 29, 2023).
2
Jorge Jralssatl and Wolf van Laer, FOREIGN POLICY, How Maduro Beat Sanctions (June 3, 2021), available at
https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/06/03/maduro-sanction-trump-biden-stronger/ (Dec. 13, 2023).
3
Exec. Order No. 13884 (Aug. 5, 2019), available at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/08/07/2019-
17052/blocking-property-of-the-government-of-venezuela (Dec. 14, 2023).
BILL: SM 398 Page 2
PDVSA4, a Venezuelan-owned oil and gas company.5 The U.S. Treasury Department blocked
PDVSA’s access to property in the U.S. and blocked individuals in the U.S. from engaging in
transactions with PDVSA.6 Lastly, sanctions specific to individuals were implemented. These
sanctions froze the bank accounts and assets of people connected to the Maduro regime.7
While sanctions change under each administration, a series of sanctions that prohibit all U.S.
commercial arms sales and retransfers to Venezuela remains constant. These sanctions are in
response to the Secretary of State’s determination that Venezuela is not cooperating with U.S.
anti-terrorism standards and the President’s annual determination that Venezuela has failed to
adhere to its obligations under international narcotics control agreements.8
Changes under the Biden Administration
On October 18, 2023, the United States signed an electoral roadmap agreement with Venezuela.
This agreement provided sanction relief to Venezuela, specifically by:
Temporarily authorizing transactions involving the oil and gas sector in Venezuela;
Authorizing transactions with Minerven, the Venezuela state-owned gold mining company;
and
Removing the secondary trading ban on certain Venezuelan sovereign bonds and PDVSA
debt and equity. The ban on trading in the primary Venezuelan bond market remains in
place.9
In accordance with this deal, the government of Venezuela was expected to take the following
steps before the end of November 2023:
Define a specific timeline and process for the expedited reinstatement of all candidates. All
who want to run for President should be allowed the opportunity, and are entitled to a level
electoral playing field, to freedom of movement, and to assurances for their physical safety.
Begin the release of all wrongfully detained U.S. nationals and Venezuelan political
prisoners.10
The November 30th deadline has passed without Venezuela’s compliance. The Venezuelan
Supreme Justice Tribunal has suspended the results of an opposition presidential primary that
4
PDVSA stands for Petroleos de Venezuela SA, a state-owned oil and gas company. PDVSA’s depletion rate has fallen to a
point to where it is generating negative cash flows. Steve Hanke, Forbes, Venezuela's PDVSA: The World's Worst Oil
Company (Mar. 6, 2017), available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevehanke/2017/03/06/venezuelas-pdvsa-the-worlds-
worst-oil-company/?sh=6d0e81f84105 (Dec. 14, 2023).
5
Supra note 2.
6
U.S. Department of the Treasury, Treasury Sanctions Venezuela’s State-Owned Oil Company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A.
(Jan. 28, 2019), available at https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm594 (Dec. 14, 2023).
7
Supra note 2.
8
Supra note 1.
9
Antony J. Blinken, Signing of Electoral Roadmap Between the Unitary Platform and Representatives of Maduro (Oct. 18,
2023), available at https://www.state.gov/signing-of-electoral-roadmap-between-the-unitary-platform-and-representatives-of-
maduro/#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20welcomes%20the,%2C%20economic%2C%20and%20humanitarian%20crisi
s. (Dec. 14, 2023).
10
Id.
BILL: SM 398 Page 3
took place in October 2023.11 Despite the government of Venezuela breaching the agreement,
sanctions have yet to be reinstated.
III. Effect of Proposed Changes:
The Memorial contains 10 whereas clauses. The clauses outline the history of sanctions imposed
on the Venezuelan regime and on companies that do business with Venezuela. The clauses also
detail the agreement under the Biden administration to ease sanctions on Venezuela.
The Memorial urges the United States Secretary of State to reinstate economic sanctions on
Nicolas Maduro and his Venezuelan dictatorship and the companies that do business with
Venezuela.
IV. Constitutional Issues:
A. Municipality/County Mandates Restrictions:
Not applicable. The Memorial does not require counties and municipalities to spend
funds, reduce the counties’ or municipalities’ ability to raise revenue, or reduce the
percentage of state tax shared with counties or municipalities.
B. Public Records/Open Meetings Issues:
None.
C. Trust Funds Restrictions:
None.
D. State Tax or Fee Increases:
None.
E. Other Constitutional Issues:
None identified.
V. Fiscal Impact Statement:
A. Tax/Fee Issues:
None.
B. Private Sector Impact:
None.
11
REUTERS, Mayela Armas and Vivian Sequera, Venezuela's top court suspends results of opposition presidential primary
(Oct. 31, 2023), available at https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/venezuelas-top-court-suspends-results-opposition-
presidential-primary-2023-10-30/ (Dec. 14, 2023).
BILL: SM 398 Page 4
C. Government Sector Impact:
None.
VI. Technical Deficiencies:
None.
VII. Related Issues:
None.
VIII. Statutes Affected:
None.
IX. Additional Information:
A. Committee Substitute – Statement of Changes:
(Summarizing differences between the Committee Substitute and the prior version of the bill.)
None.
B. Amendments:
None.
This Senate Bill Analysis does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill’s introducer or the Florida Senate.