Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who has been disqualified from running in this year's presidential election, "can win... against Maduro, without any major problem," says an analyst. "If the US government perceives that it is not going to achieve anything more with the negotiation, then things will simply go backwards," adds Benigno Alarcon, Director of the Center of Political Studies of the Andres Bello Catholic University, as the United States announces plans to reinstate sanctions against Venezuela's oil and gas sector. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES