US lifts sanctions on Venezuelan leader Rodríguez

A shift in Washington’s sanctions policy has placed Delcy Rodríguez at the centre of renewed diplomatic momentum between the United States and Venezuela. On April 1, the United States Department of the Treasury removed her name from its sanctions registry, ending restrictions first imposed in 2018.

The decision means Rodríguez is no longer listed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, whose measures had barred her from financial dealings with US entities and froze any assets under American jurisdiction. In a message posted online, she described the move as “a step in the direction of normalising and strengthening relations between our countries.”

Rodríguez said she expects further progress, expressing hope that all sanctions affecting Venezuela will eventually be lifted to support “an effective binational cooperation agenda.” Recent weeks have already seen limited openings, with the Trump administration granting licenses for Western firms to operate in Venezuela’s energy and mining industries.

Sanctions against Rodríguez were first introduced in September 2018 during Donald Trump’s presidency, when US authorities accused her and other senior officials of undermining democratic institutions. Among those targeted at the time were Cilia Flores, Vladimir Padrino López and Jorge Rodríguez.

Her removal from the sanctions list is expected to ease engagement with international financial bodies, including the International Monetary Fund, and may encourage creditors to revisit negotiations over the country’s external debt.

The policy change follows a period of intensified contact between Caracas and Washington after the January 3 attacks and kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro, events that led Rodríguez to assume the acting presidency. She has since hosted senior US officials, including Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and participated in international investment discussions.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were formally restored on March 5, with Washington soon recognising Rodríguez as Venezuela’s sole leader.

Attention has also turned to control over Venezuelan assets in the United States. Authorities in Caracas are reportedly preparing to reassert oversight of subsidiaries linked to PDVSA, including CITGO. Any leadership changes, however, would require approval from the US State Department.

CITGO, long managed by opposition-appointed boards since 2019, remains Venezuela’s most valuable overseas holding. Its recent court-driven auction process ended with a winning bid from Elliott Management, though completion still depends on Treasury authorisation, leaving its future ownership unresolved.

#Venezuela #USVenezuela #DelcyRodriguez #WorldPolitics #BreakingNews #CaribbeanNews #LatinAmerica #GlobalEconomy #Sanctions #Politics #OilIndustry #EconomicShift #InternationalRelations #NewsUpdate #Geopolitics