US lifts sanctions on Venezuela's senior legislator

Jorge Rodríguez removed from OFAC sanctions list in latest U.S. effort on oil control and bilateral diplomacy.

The U.S. Treasury Department lifted sanctions against Venezuela's National Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodriguez, the brother of the country's interim president, Delsey Rodriguez.

This action by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) comes in the midst of US-Venezuela energy deals and other negotiations with the government of this Latin American country.

List of 3 items List 1 of 3 Venezuelan demonstrations for the return of the opposition leader and the presidential election

List 2 of 3 Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and his wife accused of torture

List of 3 of 3 Americans accused of torture by Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro

End of List A delisting notice was posted on the federal agency's website Wednesday, officially removing Jorge Rodriguez from OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) blacklist.

Jorge Rodríguez, the country's senior lawmaker, held the position of president of the National Assembly from 2021. He was reappointed in January, weeks after former President Nicolas Maduro was kidnapped by the US government. He served as Vice President under the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, among other positions.

Jorge and Delsey Rodriguez were sanctioned in the first administration of US President Donald Trump for their ministerial roles under Maduro, who now faces multiple federal charges, including a sweeping superseding indictment that adds torture to his other alleged crimes.

In 2018, the State Department said that Jorge Rodríguez had been given prominent government positions by Maduro "to help him maintain power and consolidate his authoritarian rule".

A source familiar with the matter told Al Jazeera that the decision to lift sanctions against Jorge Rodriguez is part of Washington's broader diplomatic recognition of Venezuela's interim government and Trump's three-phase plan for Venezuela's political stability and transition.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters at a press conference at the US State Department on Friday that the next round of talks on Venezuela's future is set to begin on Wednesday. He also called on all Venezuelan opposition factions to join US-sponsored political talks with the interim president.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Treasury lifted sanctions against Delsey Rodriguez and later lifted restrictions on Venezuela's central bank and its state-run national airline, signaling Washington's shift from economic warfare to back-to-back bargaining. He has largely complied with Trump's demands to open up Caracas' energy industry to American companies.

Delsea Rodriguez, as interim president, has promised to hold elections — including in recent remarks to the United Nations General Assembly — but no specific date has been set. María Corina Machado, the leader of the opposition and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has called for the ceremony to be held by July.

Jorge Rodriguez has pushed several major reforms through the ruling party-controlled legislature since his sister took power: legislation that eased the entry of more foreign oil companies, a similar law for the mining sector and an effort to allow private investment in the country's battered power grid.

Since Maduro's ouster, Caracas and Washington have struck a deal to give the United States access to 17 Venezuelan oil fields, while international energy companies have separately pledged to develop projects in the Latin American country. In August, Trump announced a plan to secure direct US access to a large portion of Venezuela's vast oil reserves to replenish US strategic oil reserves.