The United States has increased its influence over the Venezuelan government after the abduction of former President Nicolas Maduro.
Published April 1, 2026
The United States has lifted sanctions against Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, following the abduction and imprisonment of her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s website was updated Wednesday to show Rodriguez had been removed from the list of Specially Designated Nationals.
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The move was seen as another sign of closer ties between Rodriguez and U.S. President Donald Trump, who has sought to exert control over Venezuelan politics since Maduro’s ouster.
Rodriguez welcomed Wednesday’s decision and called for the lifting of additional sanctions against Venezuelan entities and individuals.
“President Trump’s decision is an important step in the right direction to normalize and strengthen relations between our two countries,” she wrote.
“We believe this progress and determination will ultimately lead to the lifting of additional affirmative sanctions against our country.”
Rodriguez has been under sanctions by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) since 2018, during President Trump’s first term. The sanctions freeze any assets she held in the United States and prohibit any U.S.-based companies from doing business with her.
In a news release at the time, the United States accused Rodriguez of being among a group of government leaders who are “engaging in the destruction of Venezuela’s democracy” and “lining their own pockets at the expense of the Venezuelan people.”
At the time of the sanctions, Rodriguez had just been appointed vice president and served as vice president until January 3, when Maduro was abducted in a U.S. military operation.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who was also captured in the attack, are currently awaiting trial in the United States on charges of drug trafficking and weapons possession.
Legal experts have widely condemned the U.S. attack as illegal under international law, and Rodriguez himself has called for Maduro and Flores to be extradited to Venezuela.
But since taking over from Maduro, Rodriguez has taken a largely conciliatory approach to U.S.-Venezuela relations.
Rodriguez has taken steps to open the country to more outside investment, including signing a bill in January aimed at opening up Venezuela’s vast oil reserves to private investment.
A similar bill to attract external investment into the mining sector received its first vote in March.
But critics question the context in which these reforms have been pursued. President Trump has vowed to “execute” Venezuela, and after Maduro’s abduction, warned that a second wave of military action could occur if President Rodriguez did not comply with his demands.
“If she doesn’t do the right thing, she’s going to pay a very high price, probably even more than Maduro,” Trump told The Atlantic in a Jan. 4 article.
Rodriguez has struck a careful balance between sparse criticism of Maduro’s abduction and improving relations with the United States.
The U.S. State Department announced that the country’s embassy in Caracas officially resumed operations on Monday after seven years of closure.
International organizations such as the United Nations said human rights violations continue in the South American country despite the change of president.
Trump has held up Venezuela as a model for the kind of regime change he wants to see in Iran and Cuba, but critics say he has kept the Venezuelan government largely intact despite ousting Maduro himself.
The Venezuelan government has long faced accusations of violently repressing political dissent through arbitrary arrest, torture and extrajudicial killings.
