The United States has removed sanctions on Venezuela’s acting President, Delcy Rodríguez, marking a major shift in relations between Washington and Caracas and opening the way for closer economic and diplomatic engagement.
The move, announced on Wednesday by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, comes nearly three months after U.S. forces captured former President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a high-profile operation in Caracas. Both have been taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges and have pleaded not guilty.
By lifting Rodríguez’s designation on the U.S. sanctions list, Washington has cleared a major obstacle that previously restricted her ability to engage with U.S. businesses and investors. The change is seen as part of broader efforts to normalise ties between the two countries after years of diplomatic rupture.
In response to the Treasury’s announcement, Rodríguez expressed optimism about the future of bilateral relations. In a post on X, she described the decision as a step toward “normalising and strengthening relations between our countries” and said she hoped it would lead to further sanctions relief for Venezuela.
Rodríguez and her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, were first sanctioned in September 2018 during former President Donald Trump’s earlier administration over allegations that they helped undermine democratic processes in Venezuela. Their inclusion on the sanctions list had frozen any U.S. assets and barred American companies from dealing with them.
Since Maduro’s ouster, the current U.S. administration has shifted its approach, recognising Rodríguez as the legitimate leader of Venezuela in certain legal contexts and working with her government on a phased plan aimed at economic recovery and increased foreign investment.
In March, the U.S. also issued broad authorisations allowing Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), to sell oil directly to U.S. firms and on global markets, a significant departure from previous restrictions that had largely isolated the country’s energy sector.
While Rodríguez’s sanctions have been lifted, Maduro remains legally recognised as Venezuela’s president under Venezuelan law, and the political future of the country continues to evolve amid ongoing legal and diplomatic developments.
