LatinNews Daily - 19 February 2026

*The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) has updated a general licence that it issued on 13 February which eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector. Under general licence 50A, French oil company Maurel & Prom has been added to a list of international firms that are permitted to carry out transactions related to oil and gas operations in Venezuela. The other companies which have been given the green light are Chevron (US), Shell (UK), BP (UK), Eni (Italy), and Repsol (Spain). In a sign of the rapid improvement in bilateral relations following the US capture of Venezuela’s former president Nicolás Maduro (2013-2026) at the start of the year, the head of the US Southern Command (Southcom), General Francis Donovan, visited Venezuela yesterday for meetings with President Delcy Rodríguez’s administration. According to a Southcom press release, “discussions focused on the security environment, steps to ensure the implementation of President Donald Trump’s three-phase plan – particularly the stabilization of Venezuela – and the importance of shared security across the Western Hemisphere.” Venezuela’s communications minister, Miguel Pérez Pirela, said that Donovan met with Rodríguez, Defence Minister General Vladimir Padrino López, and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. He said that they agreed to work on “an agenda for bilateral cooperation in the fight against the trafficking of illicit substances in our region, migration, and other issues”.