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The interim president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, expressed her gratitude this Wednesday for the decision by President Donald Trump to remove her from the sanctions list of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, describing it as a step towards the normalization and strengthening of relations between our countries.
The OFAC today removed Delcy Eloina Rodríguez Gómez from its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, marking the most formal and concrete gesture of the rapprochement process between Washington and Caracas since the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces on January 3, 2026.
Rodríguez reacted hours later on his X account with a thread of two posts, in which he assessed the measure and expressed confidence that this progress would lead to the lifting of the current sanctions on his country.
In the second message, she reiterated her stance by asking to ensure an effective bilateral cooperation agenda for the benefit of our people, and concluded with a call to continue progressing towards the construction of a prosperous Venezuela for all.
The only action of the day on the SDN list, without any other administrative changes, underscores the deliberate and political nature of the removal.
Rodríguez had remained sanctioned for almost eight years, since September 25, 2018, when he was included alongside Maduro's inner circle: First Lady Cilia Flores, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, and Communications Minister Jorge Rodríguez.
During that period, the sanctions blocked all her assets and interests in the United States or under the control of U.S. persons, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had classified her as a priority target since 2022 for investigations into drug trafficking and gold smuggling.
After the capture of Maduro, the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela ordered Rodríguez to assume the interim presidency and she was in 2026.
Since then, relations with Washington have intensified: on January 30, she held a direct phone conversation with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio; on March 4, Trump publicly praised her on Truth Social, stating that she is doing a great job; and on March 12, the U.S. government formally recognized her as the sole head of state capable of acting on behalf of Venezuela.
On March 26, Rodríguez participated in an investor forum in Miami where he promised legal security for foreign capital.
However, normalization is not without its tensions: in March, it was revealed that the United States was secretly preparing a criminal charge against Rodríguez for corruption and money laundering, which reflects the transactional and fragile nature of the bilateral relationship.
Rodríguez concluded his message today with a request that extends beyond his personal situation: he hopes that the removal of his individual sanctions will pave the way for the lifting of the current sanctions on Venezuela, a sign that Caracas expects Washington to take even broader steps in the coming months.
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