US lifts sanctions on Venezuela’s acting President Rodriguez, who praises Trump

he US and Venezuela’s government led by Delcy Rodriguez have agreed to resume diplomatic relations.

Photo: AFP The United States on Wednesday lifted sanctions on Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez, according to an Office of Foreign Assets Control entry on the Treasury Department website.

The newly announced sanctions relief is the latest US recognition of Rodriguez as a legitimate authority in Venezuela ever since the US military captured her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife on January 3 in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.

The pair have since been taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges and both have pleaded not guilty.

The move allows Rodriguez to more freely work with US companies and investors.

Without explicitly mentioning the sanctions targeting her, Rodriguez, in a statement, expressed hope for US-Venezuela relations.

An American flag flies again at the US embassy in Venezuela, seven years after it was lowered when Washington and Caracas cut diplomatic relations in 2019.

Photo: AP “We value President Donald Trump’s decision as a step toward normalizing and strengthening relations between our countries,” she said on her Telegram channel after the Treasury’s announcement. “We trust that this progress will allow for the lifting of current sanctions against our country, enabling us to build and guarantee an effective bilateral cooperation agenda for the benefit of our people.” Rodriguez and her brother, Jorge Rodriguez, were hit with US sanctions during Trump’s first term for their role in allegedly undermining Venezuelan democracy.

The siblings - along with other members of Maduro’s inner circle - were added to the Treasury’s list in September 2018, months after Maduro won re-election in a contest widely considered a sham because opposition politicians and parties were banned from participating. “Maduro has given Delcy Eloina Rodriguez Gomez and Jorge Jesus Rodriguez Gomez senior positions within the Venezuelan government to help him maintain power and solidify his authoritarian rule,” Treasury said in a statement at the time.

The current Trump administration, however, chose to work with Delcy Rodriguez, instead of Venezuela’s political opposition, after Maduro’s ouster.

She has since led Venezuela’s cooperation with the administration’s phased plan to turn the country around, pitching her oil-rich nation to international investors and opening the nation up to private capital, international arbitration, and scrutiny.

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