Overview
- Delcy Rodríguez publicly asked President Donald Trump to end the “blockade and sanctions,” framing the outreach as a new partnership less than two months after Nicolás Maduro’s capture.
- The U.S. Treasury has begun issuing limited licenses for Venezuela-related oil and gas transactions, with Shell and several other multinationals receiving authorizations to operate under conditions.
- Rodríguez met executives from Shell, Chevron, Repsol and Maurel & Prom to assess projects, and the U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright toured Venezuelan oil fields with her.
- In his State of the Union address, Trump praised ties with Rodríguez and said the United States had received more than 80 million barrels of Venezuelan crude.
- Maduro’s attorney, Barry Pollack, filed a motion to dismiss U.S. narcoterrorism charges, arguing Treasury revoked a waiver that would have funded his defense and violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel.