Overview
- The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control removed Jorge Rodríguez from its Specially Designated Nationals list on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, ending the specific financial prohibitions tied to that designation.
- The OFAC notice gave no public explanation for the decision, and removal from the SDN list does not automatically lift visa bans or other non‑OFAC restrictions.
- Rodríguez heads Venezuela’s National Assembly and has led negotiations with U.S.-backed opposition figures while pushing laws to open the hydrocarbons and mining sectors to foreign firms.
- The delisting follows Washington’s earlier removal of Delcy Rodríguez from OFAC and recent agreements that give U.S. companies access to Venezuelan oil fields, a pattern Reuters and other outlets frame as bilateral normalization.
- Many senior officials and state entities including Diosdado Cabello, Tarek Saab, Maduro family members and PDVSA remain sanctioned, so the change removes one hurdle but leaves broad U.S. restrictions in place.