Washington (EFE).- The United States lifted sanctions on Tuesday on two oil tankers that had been flagged for transporting Venezuelan crude oil.
According to Washington, the vessels were part of networks used to evade restrictions imposed on the South American country’s energy sector.
Both ships were removed from a list of 76 entities that the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) deemed «outdated,» according to a statement.
«OFAC conducted an interagency vetting process for each entry to ensure that removal would not harm US foreign policy or national security interests,» the agency stated.
Specifically, the Treasury Department lifted sanctions on the Despina Andrianna, a ship owned by a Liberian company that had been flagged in 2019 for transporting crude oil from Venezuela to Cuba.
The second vessel is the Magus, also called the Freedom or the Mia. It flew the Guyanese flag and was sanctioned in 2024 for exporting Iranian oil and for its alleged links to evading sanctions on Venezuela.
Thursday’s decision is part of a gradual rapprochement between Washington and Caracas, which began with the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro (2013-2026) during a US military intervention in January.
Since then, the Trump administration has begun dismantling the harsh sanctions it imposed on Venezuela, including those on its energy industry. Venezuela possesses the world’s largest proven oil reserves.EFE
aaca/dgp/mcd
