Venezuela’s acting President Delsey Rodriguez, right, speaks next to the World Baseball Classic trophy a day after her team’s victory over the United States in the championship match at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.
Ariana Cubillos/AP
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Ariana Cubillos/AP
WASHINGTON – The United States lifted sanctions on Venezuelan acting President Delsey Rodriguez on Wednesday, according to an Office of Foreign Assets Control entry on the Treasury Department’s website.
The recently announced sanctions relief is the latest US recognition of Rodriguez as a legitimate authority in Venezuela since US forces captured his predecessor Nicolas Maduro and his wife in the Venezuelan capital Caracas on January 3.
The pair have since been flown to New York to face drug trafficking charges and have both pleaded innocent.
The move allows Rodriguez to work more freely with American companies and investors. Without explicitly mentioning the sanctions imposed on him, Rodríguez, in a statement, expressed hope for US-Venezuela relations.
“We value President Donald Trump’s decision as a step toward normalizing and strengthening relations between our countries,” he said on his Telegram channel after the Treasury announcement. “We are confident that this progress will allow the existing sanctions against our country to be lifted, enabling us to build and guarantee an effective bilateral cooperation agenda for the benefit of our peoples.”
Rodriguez and his brother Jorge Rodriguez were hit with U.S. sanctions during Trump’s first term for their role in undermining Venezuelan democracy.
The siblings – along with other members of Maduro’s inner circle – were added to the Treasury’s list in September 2018, after Maduro won re-election in a contest that was widely considered a sham because opposition politicians and parties were banned from participating.
“Maduro has given Delsey Eloina Rodríguez Gómez and Jorge Jesus Rodríguez Gómez senior positions within the Venezuelan government to help Maduro maintain power and consolidate his authoritarian rule,” Treasury said in a statement at the time.
However, the current Trump administration chose to work with Delsey Rodríguez rather than with the Venezuelan political opposition following Maduro’s ouster. He has since led Venezuelan cooperation in the administration’s phased plan to turn around the country, pitching its oil-rich nation to international investors and opening the country to private capital, international arbitration and scrutiny.
Last month, the administration recognized him as Venezuela’s “sole head of state” in an ongoing civil case in US federal court.
America has lifted sanctions on Venezuela’s major industries. In March, the Treasury issued a sweeping authorization allowing state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, to sell Venezuelan oil directly to U.S. companies and global markets, a major change after Washington largely blocked transactions with Venezuela’s government and its oil sector for years.
Meanwhile, Maduro is still legally President of Venezuela.
Hours after the January 3 operation, the country’s ruling-party-loyal High Court declared his absence “temporary”, effectively eliminating the need for early elections and preserving the protections afforded him by office under international law. The court ordered Rodriguez to hold office for up to 90 days, extendable to six months if approved by the National Assembly, which is also controlled by the National Assembly and presided over by his brother.
The 90-day period ends on Friday.
