The United States on Wednesday lifted sanctions against Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly and brother of the South American country’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, the Treasury Department reported.
The Trump administration removed several entries listing Rodríguez’s name from the main U.S. sanctions list — the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list — which includes leaders and individuals subject to financial sanctions imposed by Washington. The Treasury did not provide a reason for the change.
The removal of Rodríguez — who has led the Venezuelan legislature since 2021 — from the SDN list comes after U.S. military personnel entered Caracas in January and detained former president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who face charges in the United States of drug trafficking, torture, and repression.
Since then, Delcy Rodríguez has been in charge of the nation and has negotiated, among other matters, a pact with the Trump administration under which the United States will control a large portion of Venezuela’s oil sector. Under the agreement announced last August, Washington will have majority control over one-fifth of Venezuela’s crude oil reserves — the world’s largest, estimated at some 300 billion barrels.
Along the same lines, Delcy and Jorge Rodríguez are expected to amend Venezuelan law to allow more foreign companies to enter the country’s energy sector, according to a report by Reuters.
Rodríguezes removed from OFAC List
In April, the Treasury Department removed Venezuela’s interim president from the list maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Being on the SDN list results in a total freeze on financial and real estate assets, as well as a ban on holding checking accounts, investments, or other assets in the United States.
Furthermore, the U.S. government prohibits companies, banks, or any U.S. citizen from conducting financial, commercial, or business transactions with individuals on the list. They are also barred from entering the country.
After being removed from the list, Delcy Rodríguez traveled to New York in September to participate in the United Nations General Assembly, an event that also marked the thaw in relations between Washington and Caracas with a closed-door meeting between her and Trump.
Delcy and Jorge Rodríguez had been designated in September 2018 along with Cilia Flores and former Venezuelan defense minister Vladimir Padrino. At that time, OFAC reported that these designations were intended to target Maduro’s inner circle. It had placed the then-president on the same list in July 2017.
Regarding the Rodríguez siblings specifically, the Treasury stated at the time: “Maduro has given them [...] high-ranking positions in the Venezuelan government to help him remain in power and strengthen his authoritarian regime.”
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition