The United States has eased sanctions against the Central Bank of Venezuela as the Trump administration tries to revive the country’s oil sector following the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro.
The Treasury Department on Tuesday issued a general license allowing financial institutions and other agents to do business with the Central Bank of Venezuela, as well as a small number of other institutions in the country.
The measure allows Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, to carry out transactions with international banks after a seven-year embargo resulting from US sanctions imposed during Trump’s first term.
It’s a key step toward easing economic bottlenecks in Venezuela that have been delaying payments to local oil companies and hampering President Donald Trump’s plan to rapidly ramp up crude oil production.
Activity permitted under the general license includes dollar banking, payments, and bank correspondence accounts.
The license, issued by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), also suspends sanctions on three Venezuelan state banks: Banco de Venezuela, Banco Digital de los Trabajadores and Banco del Tesoro.
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Another general license also allows the negotiation of contracts with the government of Venezuela, as long as the parties obtain authorization from OFAC.
The relief of sanctions on the Central Bank of Venezuela will give “real depth to the foreign exchange market”, said Alejandro Grisanti, director of consultancy Ecoanalítico, before the announcement.
The US Treasury blocked the Central Bank of Venezuela in 2019, restricting most of its activities “to prevent it from being used as a tool of the illegitimate Maduro regime,” according to a statement released at the time.
Under Maduro’s command, Venezuela resorted to opaque ways of moving resources, including the use of banks in Turkey and Russia, cryptocurrency platforms and other means that opened space for corrupt practices.
Since Maduro’s capture, Washington has taken control of Venezuela’s oil sales and started adopting measures to ease sanctions on the country’s energy sector. Venezuelan oil exports to US ports grew more than 150% in March compared to December.
Rodríguez’s interim government has moved quickly to reform key laws and make Venezuela more hospitable to U.S. investment, including from energy and mining companies.
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A Bloomberg reported last week that the Trump administration was considering lifting sanctions on the Central Bank of Venezuela.
For years, sanctions against the Central Bank generated uncertainty in the international banking system.
In some cases, they have led to so-called “overcompliance,” when banks block or delay legitimate Venezuela-related transactions for fear of possible penalties.
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