Venezuela President Delcy Rodriguez speaks at the National Congress.
Photo: AFP/SUPPLIED
Interim Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodríguez has asked US President Donald Trump to totally lift the sanctions imposed on her country, as the countries begin to restore diplomatic ties.
American officials are seeking greater access to Venezuela’s oil and mineral wealth, since a US military operation ousted leftist leader Nicolás Maduro on 3 January.
In 2014, the US Treasury began imposing sanctions that have crippled Venezuela’s economy, as inflation soared to 475 percent in 2025.
Its oil infrastructure has also suffered from years of underinvestment, with the country currently producing only a few million barrels per day, despite having the world’s largest oil reserves.
Since January, the US has eased a seven-year oil embargo on Venezuela and issued licenses allowing a handful of multinationals to operate in the country under certain conditions.
On Friday, the US also authorised imports of fertiliser from Venezuela, as the US-Israel war against Iran drove up prices of the key agricultural commodity.
“Unilateral co-ercive measures against the Venezuelan people also affect people across Latin America,” Rodriguez said, during a meeting with a Colombian delegation in Caracas.
“It affects the economy of Colombia, the economy of Venezuela and our people.”
The Caracas talks are aimed to mark a thaw in relations between the two South American neighbours, with Rodriguez now pushing Colombian rebels back across the border.
The Trump administration has pressed both sides to tackle groups operating across the border, like the National Liberation Army or ELN, a leftist guerrilla group deeply involved in the drug trade.
“This is a problem we have as countries and we are determined to make progress together,” Rodriguez said.
US forces took predecessor Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, to New York to face trial on drug-trafficking charges. They have pleaded not guilty.
– AFP