The US has lifted sanctions on Venezuela’s interim president as part of a broader easing of measures following Nicolas Maduro’s ouster
Kehinde Adegoke | International Agencies
The United States on Wednesday lifted sanctions against Venezuela’s interim PresidentDelcy Rodriguez, removing her from a Treasury Department blacklist that had barred her from doing business with American companies for seven years.
Rodriguez assumed the office after Washington deposed her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro, who was seized by US forces during a raid on Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, on January 3.
What does the lifting of US sanctions mean for Rodriguez?
Rodriguez’s name was removed from the “Specially Designated Nationals List,” according to an entry by the Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The move enables Rodríguez to work more freely with US companies and investors.
She welcomed the decision in a statement posted on X, calling it a “significant step in the right direction to normalise and strengthen relations” between the US and Venezuela.
“We trust that this progress will allow for the lifting of the sanctions currently in place in our country, enabling the building and guaranteeing of an effective bilateral cooperation agenda for the benefit of our peoples,” she said.
Rodríguez was Maduro’s vice president.
She was among several individuals in the former leader’s so-called “inner circle” sanctioned by the Treasury in 2018, during US President Donald Trump’s first stint in office.
Thawing US-Venezuela relations
Ties between Washington and Caracas are on the mend after Maduro’s ouster.
Rodriguez was formally recognised by the US as Venezuela’s leader in March and is balancing requests from Washington and those from her own supporters. (Verify that Rodriguez was actually recognised by the US as Venezuela’s leader in March, as well as the gender of Rodriguez.)
It has been reported that Rodriguez has complied with US requests for Venezuela to open its energy industry to US companies; verification is advised.
Washington has removed sanctions on major Venezuelan industries.
In March, the Treasury Department issued an authorisation allowing the state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA, to directly sell Venezuelan oil to US companies and on international markets.
In a key development on Monday, the US State Department announced the formal reopening of its embassy in Caracas, which had been shut for seven years.
