US lifts sanctions on Venezuela’s top legislator

Key points

• The US Treasury lifted sanctions on Jorge Rodriguez, head of Venezuela's National Assembly.
• The delisting was posted Wednesday, removing him from the OFAC sanctions blacklist.
• A source says the move is part of US diplomatic recognition of Venezuela's interim government.

The United States Department of the Treasury has lifted sanctions on Jorge Rodriguez, the head of Venezuela's National Assembly and brother of interim President Delcy Rodriguez. The delisting notice was posted on the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control website on Wednesday, removing his name from the Specially Designated Nationals blacklist.

The move comes amid major US-Venezuela energy pacts and other talks with the Venezuelan government. Jorge Rodriguez has served as National Assembly president since 2021 and was reappointed in January, weeks after the abduction of former President Nicolas Maduro by the US government.

Sanctions history and US talks

Jorge and Delcy Rodriguez had been sanctioned under US President Donald Trump's first administration over their ministerial roles under Maduro. In 2018, the State Department said Jorge Rodriguez was given prominent government positions by Maduro "to help him maintain power and solidify his authoritarian rule".

A source familiar with the matter told Al Jazeera the decision is part of Washington's wider diplomatic recognition of the interim Venezuelan government and Trump's three-phase plan for Venezuela's stabilisation and political transition. At a State Department briefing on Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the next round of negotiations on Venezuela's future was scheduled to begin on Wednesday, and he urged all Venezuelan opposition factions to join US-backed political talks with the interim president.

to help him maintain power and solidify his authoritarian rule

— the State Department

Energy deals and elections

Earlier this year, the US Treasury dropped sanctions against Delcy Rodriguez and later lifted restrictions on Venezuela's central bank and its state-owned national airline. As interim president, Delcy Rodriguez has promised to hold elections but no firm date has been set. Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado has demanded they take place by July.

Jorge Rodriguez has shepherded several major reforms through the ruling party-controlled legislature since his sister took power, including laws facilitating foreign oil and mining companies and an effort to allow private investment for the power grid. Since Maduro's ouster, Caracas and Washington have cut a deal giving the US access to 17 Venezuelan oil fields, while international energy firms have separately committed to expanding projects in the country. In August, Trump announced a plan to secure direct US access to a large share of Venezuela's oil to refill the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.