The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has officially removed Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez from its sanctions list, according to a notice posted on the agency's website on Wednesday. Rodriguez is the brother of acting President Delcy Rodriguez.
The move comes as the United States and Venezuela advance large-scale energy agreements and hold a series of bilateral talks. The US Treasury had previously lifted sanctions on acting President Delcy Rodriguez, followed by the country's central bank and national airline.
Jorge Rodriguez has served as National Assembly president since 2021 and was reappointed in January, weeks after former President Nicolas Maduro was detained by US authorities. He previously served as vice president under the late President Hugo Chavez.
The Rodriguez siblings were sanctioned during President Donald Trump's first term over their roles in the Maduro government. In 2018, the US State Department accused Jorge Rodriguez of being given key posts by Maduro to maintain power and entrench authoritarian rule.
A source close to the matter told Al Jazeera that the lifting of sanctions on Jorge Rodriguez is part of Washington's broader diplomatic effort to recognize Venezuela's interim government, as well as Trump's three-phase plan for stability and political transition in the South American country.
At a press briefing at the US State Department on Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the next round of talks on Venezuela's future is expected to begin on Wednesday, and called on Venezuela's opposition factions to join the US-backed political negotiation process with the acting president.
Acting President Delcy Rodriguez has pledged to hold elections, reiterating the commitment recently at the UN General Assembly, but has not set a specific date. Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado has demanded that elections be held before July.
Since taking office, Delcy Rodriguez and the ruling-party-controlled National Assembly have passed a series of major reforms, including a law facilitating the entry of more foreign oil companies into Venezuela, similar legislation for the mining sector, and efforts to allow private investment in the country's deteriorating power grid.
After Maduro was ousted, Caracas and Washington reached an agreement granting the US access to 17 Venezuelan oil fields, while international energy companies separately committed to expanding projects in the country. In August, Trump announced a plan to secure direct US access to a large share of Venezuela's oil reserves to replenish the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
