The license follows US President Donald Trump’s push to open Venezuela’s resource sector to international investment.
listen to this article3 minutes
information
Published March 6, 2026
The US government has approved a limited license to export Venezuelan gold following a high-level meeting aimed at expanding mining in the country.
A notice announcing the license was posted on the U.S. Treasury Department’s website on Friday.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
This will allow Venezuela’s state-run mining company, Minerven, and its subsidiaries to export, transport, and sell Venezuelan gold to the United States to the extent required by U.S. law.
However, under this permit, Venezuelan gold is not allowed to be exchanged with Cuba, North Korea, Iran or Russia.
The license also requires payments to sanctioned parties to go through a Treasury account known as the Foreign Government Deposit Fund, the same system that has been used to hold proceeds from Venezuelan oil sales.
Minerven and other state-owned industries have faced years of U.S. sanctions as punishment for pushing to nationalize Venezuela’s resources under former President Hugo Chávez.
However, since the United States began its operation to abduct and imprison then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, it has been pushing ahead with its expansion into Venezuela’s oil and mining sectors.
The January 3 military operation has been condemned as a violation of international law, and critics have since argued that US President Donald Trump is seeking to exploit Venezuela’s natural resources for his own benefit.
Trump and his allies claim Venezuela’s oil resources were stolen from the United States, citing the seizure of assets from American companies in 2007.
However, international law guarantees that countries have permanent sovereignty over their natural resources, which cannot be exploited by foreign powers without their consent.
So far, Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez’s government has acceded to President Trump’s demands to surrender oil to the United States and open the country’s oil and mining sectors to foreign investment.
Just this week, following a two-day visit from President Trump’s Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Rodriguez agreed to send the mining reform bill to Congress.
And in late January, President Rodríguez signed another reform bill that allows for more foreign private investment in Venezuela’s oil sector and lowers taxes on the industry.
Venezuela’s economy has struggled under tightening U.S. sanctions and government mismanagement, forcing millions of people from the South American country to flee the border over the past decade.
Reform proponents argue that outside investment can revive Venezuela’s flagging economy and fund the replacement of aging mining infrastructure.
On Friday, Venezuela’s central bank released its first inflation statistics since November 2024, showing inflation soared to 475% in 2025, when the United States embargoed Venezuelan oil exports.
According to the government, Venezuela’s gold production in 2025 will reach nearly 9.5 tons, and the country boasts one of the world’s largest oil reserves.
