The United States has lifted sanctions against Venezuela’s interim President Delsey Rodriguez, the US Treasury Department said in a post on its website on Wednesday.
Rodriguez took office after Washington ousted his predecessor Nicolas Maduro – after US forces raided the Venezuelan capital Caracas and captured him 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 from the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The move enables Rodriguez to work with US companies and more investors.
He welcomed the decision in a statement posted on Twitter, calling it “an important step toward normalizing and strengthening relations” between the US and Venezuela.
“We are confident that this progress will allow the lifting of the sanctions currently imposed on our countries, thereby building and guaranteeing an effective bilateral cooperation agenda for the benefit of our peoples,” he said.
Rodriguez was Maduro’s vice president.
She was one of several individuals in the former leader’s so-called “inner circle” sanctioned by the Treasury in 2018 during US President Donald Trump’s first term in office.
US-Venezuela relations are softening
Relations between Washington and Caracas are improving after Maduro’s ouster.
Rodriguez was formally recognized by the US as Venezuela’s leader in March and is walking a tight rope between the demands of Washington and her own supporters. .
She has since been complying with Trump’s demands for Venezuela to open its energy industry to American companies.
Washington has lifted sanctions on key Venezuelan industries.
In March, the Treasury Department issued an authorization allowing state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, to sell Venezuelan oil directly to U.S. companies and in international markets.
In a significant development on Monday, the US State Department announced the formal reopening of its embassy in Caracas, which was closed for seven years.
Edited by: Srinivas Majumdaru