US Lifts Sanctions on Venezuelan Interim Leader Delcy Rodríguez

Thu Apr 02 2026 23:08:53 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

In a surprising turn of events, the US has lifted sanctions on Delcy Rodríguez, the interim president of Venezuela, following the recent removal of Nicolás Maduro. This move is seen as a significant shift in US-Venezuela relations, raising both hopes for political reconciliation and concerns over ongoing human rights issues.

The United States has officially lifted sanctions on Delcy Rodríguez, the interim leader of Venezuela, shortly after US forces removed Nicolás Maduro from power. Rodríguez, who was placed on the sanctions list in 2018, welcomes this decision as a step towards normalizing relations. However, critics express concerns regarding the lack of pressure on Rodríguez to release political prisoners, amidst ongoing discussions of economic recovery and political stability in Venezuela.

The United States has lifted sanctions on Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez.

This move comes less than three months after US forces seized the country's previous leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife in a military raid in Caracas and took them to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

Rodríguez, a close ally of Maduro who served as his vice-president, had been placed on the sanctions list in 2018, with the US accusing her of undermining democracy.

She was sworn in as interim president by Venezuela's National Assembly, which is dominated by Maduro loyalists, days after the US raid and has been described by Trump as a terrific person.

Rodríguez welcomed her removal from the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List.

Those named on the list have their assets in the United States blocked and US nationals are barred from doing business from them.

In a post on X, Rodríguez called it a significant step in the right direction to normalise and strengthen relations between our countries.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the move showed the progress that had been made between our two countries to promote stability, support economic recovery, and advance political reconciliation in Venezuela.

However, opposition activists in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, were critical of the move, arguing that the US should exert pressure on Rodríguez to release all political prisoners still held in the country's jails.

The release of political prisoners had been one of the key demands US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had made of Rodríguez in the wake of Maduro's removal.

While the National Assembly has passed an amnesty law and hundreds of detainees have been freed, prisoners' rights group Foro Penal says that almost 500 political prisoners remain behind bars.

The lifting of sanctions is the latest sign of warming relations between the Trump administration and Rodríguez's team.

Earlier this week, the US officially reopened its embassy in Caracas, seven years after closing it. A Venezuelan diplomatic team has also been dispatched to the US to reopen its embassy in Washington.

In the months since Maduro's removal from office, several high-level US delegations have travelled to Venezuela to discuss how the US can expand its access to Venezuela's oil and mineral wealth.

Critics of Rodríguez have noted a lack of discussion about democratic elections.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado, who has been living in exile since leaving Venezuela to collect the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in December, met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday.

Despite having been sidelined by Trump in favour of Rodríguez, Machado described her meeting as excellent and praised the secretary of state's dedication to democracy, freedom and Venezuelans' well-being.

Rubio told Fox News that the US was making significant progress in Venezuela, claiming that the country has moved into a phase of recovery and that free elections will eventually need to occur.

Yet, he could not specify a timeline for when elections might take place, urging patience while remaining vigilant about the need for democratic reforms.