The United States Treasury Department, through its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has issued a temporary licence authorising financial and commercial transactions with Venezuela that would otherwise be prohibited under the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations. The measure, effective immediately and valid until 23 October 2026, is explicitly tied to relief operations following two powerful earthquakes that struck the country’s northern coast on 25 June. The quakes, recorded at magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.4 within 39 seconds of each other, have killed at least 235 people, injured more than 4,300, and left tens of thousands unaccounted for, according to official and unofficial tallies.

Viewed from Washington, the licence represents a calibrated humanitarian exception rather than a relaxation of the sanctions architecture. The Treasury’s directive specifies that the authorisation does not extend to the unblocking of assets frozen under the sanctions regime, nor does it permit any transaction prohibited by other executive orders. The US State Department separately announced the immediate dispatch of search-and-rescue teams, medical resources, and $150 million in aid, with $100 million channelled through the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and $50 million for on-the-ground operations. Officials in Washington have stressed that the broader sanctions framework—intensified since 2017 over allegations of food and medicine diversion and narcotics trafficking—remains in full force, and that the licence is a time-limited response to an extraordinary natural disaster.

In Caracas, interim President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in the hardest-hit state of La Guaira and publicly thanked US President Donald Trump for his solidarity. The Venezuelan health ministry has confirmed the casualty figures, while an independent missing-persons website has registered over 50,000 people still unaccounted for, a number not officially endorsed by the government. International assistance has mobilised rapidly: Brazil’s foreign ministry announced the deployment of a KC-390 aircraft carrying 36 urban search-and-rescue specialists and nine tonnes of equipment, with a second flight scheduled to deliver a field hospital, surgical medicines, and solar-powered water purifiers. Rescue teams from other nations have also begun arriving, as hospitals in the affected zone report being overwhelmed and residents describe a shortage of heavy machinery to clear rubble.

Analysts in European capitals note that the temporary waiver fits a pattern of selective US sanctions relief in response to humanitarian crises, while preserving core economic pressure on the Venezuelan state. The licence does not alter the status of oil-sector restrictions, which were briefly eased through limited licences after the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro in January but were subsequently not renewed beyond May 2026. The current authorisation is designed to allow international banks, humanitarian organisations, and governments to transfer funds and supplies without exposure to secondary sanctions. The dossier remains open: the licence is in effect until late October 2026, and the immediate focus of international actors is on locating survivors and delivering emergency aid, even as the legal and political framework of sanctions remains unchanged.