The United States has lifted sanctions on Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez.
This move comes less than three months after US forces executed a military raid in Caracas, seizing the country's former leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife to face drug trafficking charges in New York.
Rodríguez, a close ally of Maduro and former vice president, had been placed on the sanctions list in 2018 for allegedly undermining democracy.
Following Maduro's removal, Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president by Venezuela's National Assembly, which is dominated by Maduro loyalists, and was praised by former President Trump as a terrific person.
Rodríguez expressed welcome for her removal from the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, which previously blocked her assets in the US and prohibited US nationals from engaging in business with her.
In a post on social media, she termed it a significant step in the right direction to normalize and strengthen relations between our countries. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly indicated that this demonstrated progress towards stability and political reconciliation in Venezuela.
Contrarily, opposition activists in Caracas criticized this decision, arguing that the US should pressure Rodríguez to release all political prisoners still held in the country's jails. Notably, despite legislative moves toward amnesty, nearly 500 political prisoners remain incarcerated according to the prisoner rights group Foro Penal.
The lifting of sanctions is viewed as a continuation of warming relations between the Trump administration and Rodríguez's interim government. Earlier this week, the US embassy in Caracas was reopened after a seven-year closure, and a Venezuelan diplomatic team has been dispatched to the US to restart its embassy in Washington.
In recent months, high-level US delegations have visited Venezuela to discuss expanding access to the nation's oil and mineral resources. Critics have noted a lack of dialogue concerning democratic elections amid the political transition.
Despite her sidelining by the US in favor of Rodríguez, exiled opposition leader María Corina Machado met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week and expressed optimism regarding US engagement with Venezuela.
In the broader context, Rubio has assured viewers of ongoing US initiatives in Venezuela, asserting that a transition phase toward free elections is inevitable, although the timeline remains unclear.
