The United States has partially lifted sanctions against Venezuela after Nicolas Maduro's authoritarian government signed "an electoral roadmap" with the opposition for a free and fair election next year, report agencies.

The announcement of sanctions relief comes a day after the government of President Nicolás Maduro and the US-backed opposition Unitary Platform — resumed talks in Barbados.At the talks, the Venezuelan government and opposition agreed to holding presidential elections in the second half of 2024 in accordance with conditions that include the presence of international observers. They also agreed that all qualified candidates may participate in the election, and that each side may choose its candidate according to its own rules.

Then the U.S. Treasury Department lifted some broad sanctions on Venezuela's oil, gas, and gold sectors, specifying that the measures could be reinstated if Caracas does not comply with the elections deal.In a press release, the US State Department lauded the signing as "a concrete step toward resolution of Venezuela's political, economic, and humanitarian crisis."

The opposition will hold its primary on Sunday, though frontrunner María Corina Machado was banned in June from holding office due to her support for US sanctions and the US-backed parallel presidency of Juan Guaidó in 2019.US authorities also called on Venezuela to start releasing "all detained Venezuelan political prisoners."

Maduro, who is widely expected to run in the election, assumed the presidency in 2013 following the death of Hugo Chávez, the father of the so-called Bolivarian revolution, which promoted heavy public spending underwritten by the country’s oil wealth.

Venezuela boasts the world’s largest proven oil reserves and once pumped about 3mn barrels a day, though production today is well below 1mn b/d.The State department said the sanctions will be reinstated if Maduro's government fails to abide by the terms of the arrangement.

The United States has applied a range of economic sanctions on Venezuelan individuals, firms, and state entities since at least 2015, citing undemocratic actions by Maduro government.The Obama administration imposed the punitive measures in response to government repression of peaceful protests; in the years since, they have been extended in response to unfair elections.