The United States has lifted sanctions on Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez—another step toward normalizing relations between the two countries after अमेरिकी forces removed her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro, from the country along with his wife.
Both were taken to New York after the operation in January, where they were charged over alleged involvement in drug trafficking. They rejected the accusations and said they were innocent.
The decision to lift the sanctions, announced by the Treasury Department on Wednesday, gives Rodriguez far greater latitude to engage with American companies and investors. In her statement, without directly referring to the personal restrictions, she signaled that she expects further rapprochement between the two countries.
“We view President Donald Trump’s decision as a step toward normalizing and strengthening relations between our countries,” she wrote on her Telegram channel after the announcement. “We hope this progress will lead to the removal of the sanctions still in force against our country and make it possible to build an effective agenda for bilateral cooperation in the interests of our peoples.”
Sanctions against Rodriguez and her brother Jorge were first imposed during Trump’s first term—they were accused of undermining Venezuela’s democratic institutions.
They, along with other members of Maduro’s inner circle, were placed on the Treasury Department’s sanctions list in September 2018—several months after his re-election in a vote widely regarded as undemocratic, with opposition parties and politicians barred from taking part.
At the time, the U.S. Treasury Department said: “Maduro appointed Delcy Eloina Rodriguez Gomez and Jorge Jesus Rodriguez Gomez to senior positions in the Venezuelan government in order to retain power and entrench authoritarian rule.”
However, after Maduro’s removal, the current Trump administration chose to engage not with the opposition but with Delcy Rodriguez. She has led cooperation with Washington under a phased plan for the country’s transformation, presenting Venezuela as an attractive destination for investment while opening the oil sector to private capital, international arbitration, and external oversight.
Last month, the United States recognized her as Venezuela’s “sole head of state” as part of an ongoing civil case in federal court.
At the same time, Washington began easing restrictions on the country’s key industries. In March, the Treasury Department issued a broad authorization allowing the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) to sell oil directly to American companies and on global markets—a notable reversal after years of a policy that had effectively isolated Venezuela’s oil sector.
Legally, however, Nicolas Maduro remains Venezuela’s president.
In the first hours after the U.S. operation on January 3, the country’s supreme court declared his absence “temporary,” removing the need for an urgent election and preserving the legal guarantees attached to his office. The court instructed Delcy Rodriguez to serve as acting president for up to 90 days, with the option of extending that period to six months—subject to approval by the national assembly, which is controlled by the ruling party and led by her brother.
That 90-day period expires on Friday.