The US Department of the Treasury issued a notice on Friday announcing that the US government has authorized a limited license for Venezuela's state-run mining company Minerven and its subsidiaries to export, transport, and sell Venezuelan gold to the United States, within the parameters set under US law. This move follows high-level discussions aimed at expanding mining activities in the South American nation.
However, the license explicitly prohibits any Venezuelan gold from being exchanged with Cuba, North Korea, Iran, or Russia. Additionally, payments to sanctioned individuals must flow through Treasury accounts known as Foreign Government Deposit Funds—the same system previously used to store proceeds from Venezuelan oil sales. Minerven and other state-owned industries have faced US sanctions for years, imposed as penalties for the nationalization of Venezuela's resources under former President Hugo Chavez.
The US has intensified efforts to gain access to Venezuela's oil and mining sectors since January 3, when it launched a military operation to abduct and imprison the country's then-president, Nicolas Maduro. This operation has been widely condemned as a violation of international law, with critics alleging that US President Donald Trump has since sought to exploit Venezuela's natural resources for American economic gain. Trump and his allies purportedly claim that Venezuela's oil resources were stolen from the US, citing asset expropriations from US businesses in 2007.
International law guarantees countries permanent sovereignty over their natural resources, which cannot be exploited by foreign powers without consent. Despite this, the government of interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez has complied with Trump's demands to surrender oil to the US and open the country's oil and mining sectors to foreign investment. This week, Rodriguez agreed to send a mining reform law to the National Assembly after a two-day visit from US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and in late January, she signed a separate reform law allowing expanded private foreign investment in Venezuela's oil sector and reducing industry taxes.
Venezuela's economy has struggled under tightening US sanctions and government mismanagement, forcing millions of citizens to flee the country over the past decade. Proponents of the reforms argue that outside investment could help revive Venezuela's ailing economy and fund upgrades to its outdated mining infrastructure. On Friday, Venezuela's central bank released its first inflation statistics since November 2024, showing that inflation skyrocketed to 475% in 2025 when the US imposed an embargo on Venezuelan oil exports.
According to government data, gold production in Venezuela reached nearly 9.5 tonnes in 2025, and the country sits on some of the world's largest oil deposits. The new license and recent reforms highlight the ongoing geopolitical and economic pressures facing Venezuela, as the US regime continues to assert influence over the nation's resources amid a deepening humanitarian and economic crisis.
Source: www.aljazeera.com