LatinNews Daily - 15 April 2026

*The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) has issued two new general licences easing sanctions on Venezuela’s banking sector and authorising commercial negotiations with the Venezuelan government. The banking-related licence lifts a prohibition on transactions with the central bank (BCV) and three state-owned banks, Banco de Venezuela, Banco Digital de los Trabajadores, and Banco del Tesoro, as well as any entity in which these own a stake of 50% or more. The other licence permits transactions that are necessary for commercial negotiations for contingent contracts with Venezuela’s government, although these contracts will still require approval from Ofac before they come into force. This latest relaxation of sanctions comes amid growing engagement by US oil firms with the Venezuelan government. This is being encouraged by the White House, with US assistant secretary for hydrocarbons and geothermal energy, Kyle Haustveit, holding talks with President Delcy Rodríguez’s administration in recent days. Rodríguez yesterday confirmed that her government had met with representatives from US oil companies ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil, which both left Venezuela amid a nationalisation drive under former president Hugo Chávez (1999-2013), as well as Chevron, which signed an asset swap agreement with Venezuela’s state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) on 13 April.

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