Jan 27 (Reuters) - The United States and Venezuela have

a fraught recent history marked by broken diplomatic relations,

sanctions and accusations of criminal activity and

coup-plotting.

U.S. President Donald Trump - who during his first term used

a "maximum pressure" sanctions policy against President Nicolas

Maduro - referred to Maduro as a dictator during the 2024 U.S.

campaign.

The administration of former U.S. president Joe Biden

reinstated broad oil sanctions in April after it said Maduro

failed to keep promises for a free election.

It also imposed targeted sanctions on dozens of officials

and increased rewards for the capture or conviction of leaders

including Maduro after a contested July election and Maduro's

third-term inauguration, leaving Trump limited options for

further penalties.

Maduro's government has always rejected sanctions by the

United States and others, saying they are illegitimate measures

which amount to an "economic war" designed to cripple Venezuela.

The top Trump officials expected to have influence over how

the administration handles Maduro include Secretary of State

Marco Rubio, a long-time Maduro critic, and Richard Grenell, a

former intelligence chief who is Trump's envoy for special

missions.

Grenell has said he is speaking with Venezuelan officials

and planned to meet the opposition, whose leader Edmundo

Gonzalez is recognized by Washington and the European parliament

as the winner of Venezuela's election.

PIVOTAL LICENSE

Trump's administration is reviewing a license that has

allowed U.S. oil company Chevron ( CVX ) to expand oil

operations in Venezuela in order to recoup debt owed to it by

the country, sources have said.

Chevron's ( CVX ) license could be amended or terminated,

potentially ending a steady revenue source for Maduro's

administration since early 2023. The money has lifted

Venezuela's economy, especially its oil and banking sectors.

Rubio told the U.S. Senate the Chevron ( CVX ) license needed to be

"re-explored," while Trump has made repeated comments about the

U.S. not needing imports of Venezuelan oil.

Some European companies which received similar U.S.

authorizations, including Spain's Repsol and France's

Maurel & Prom, could also see licenses changed or

terminated, leaving them less room to negotiate with state oil

company PDVSA.

POLITICAL TRANSITION

Washington has long said it supports democratic elections -

verified by observers - in Venezuela, and the Biden

administration rejected the official results of the July 2024

vote, recognizing the opposition's Gonzalez as president-elect.

Venezuelan opposition leaders have since been lobbying U.S.

officials to increase pressure on Maduro for a political

transition.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and Gonzalez spoke

with Rubio last week, with Rubio calling Gonzalez "Venezuela's

rightful president."

Maduro, who both Venezuela's electoral authority and top

court say won the election, has scoffed at concern from the U.S.

and others.

Last year is not the first time the U.S. has doubted the

legitimacy of a Maduro re-election.

Reuters reported in 2020 that Grenell secretly met with a

Maduro representative to work out the Venezuelan leader's exit

from power after his 2018 re-election, considered a sham by most

Western countries, to no end.

IMMIGRATION AND GANGS

Trump has kicked off a sweeping immigration crackdown,

pledging mass deportations.

Deportees are expected to include Venezuelans, who have left

their country by the millions, though it is unclear where they

may be sent if Venezuela will not accept them.

Venezuelan officials have long floated the possibility they

could reject migrant flights over sanctions.

Some 600,000 Venezuelans in the United States were eligible

for deportation reprieves granted by the Biden administration.

Trump said the day before his inauguration that he would

remove members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua from the

United States.

Venezuelan attorney general Tarek Saab said last week his

country definitively destroyed the gang there in 2023, adding

his office is willing to restart legal cooperation with the U.S.

in order to extradite Venezuelan members of the gang.

DETAINEES

It is unclear exactly how many Americans or dual citizens

are being held by Venezuela, but Venezuelan officials have

spoken publicly about at least nine.

Maduro's officials have accused most of them of terrorism

and said some were high-level "mercenaries".

Venezuela has regularly accused members of the opposition

and foreign detainees of conspiring with U.S. entities such as

the Central Intelligence Agency to plan terrorist attacks. U.S.

officials have consistently denied this.

In late 2023, Venezuela's government released dozens of

prisoners including 10 Americans after months of negotiations,

while the U.S. released a close ally of Maduro.

CITGO

An auction of shares in a Citgo Petroleum parent

company to repay some $21 billion in claims for debt defaults

and expropriations by Venezuela and PDVSA is set to be

reorganized after a year-long sale process ended in shambles.

A U.S. federal court in Delaware is auctioning the shares in

PDV Holding, a U.S. subsidiary of PDVSA and the indirect sole

stockholder of Citgo.

The Venezuelan government has characterized the auction as

theft of national assets, while Venezuela's opposition wanted

the dispute resolved under their country's law. The final sale

deal must be approved by the U.S. Treasury.