U.S. lifts broad sanctions against Venezuela for six months

The Biden administration late Wednesday announced the removal of a broad array of sanctions against Venezuela’s oil and gas sector in response to a deal between President Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian government and his political opponents that could lead to a presidential election next year.

The U.S. Treasury Department suspended for six months measures against Venezuela that had prohibited financial transactions in the country’s energy sector and gold mining industry. The measure also ended a ban on trading Venezuelan government bonds.