Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodríguez asked US president Donald Trump on Friday to totally lift the sanctions imposed on her country, as the countries begin to restore diplomatic ties. American officials are seeking greater access to Venezuela’s oil and mineral wealth since a US military operation ousted leftist leader Nicolas Maduro January 3. The US treasury began imposing sanctions in 2014 that have crippled Venezuela’s economy, which saw inflation soar to 475 per cent in 2025. Its oil infrastructure has also suffered from years of underinvestment, with the country currently producing only a few million barrels per day despite having the world’s largest oil reserves. But since January, the US has eased a seven-year-old oil embargo on Venezuela and issued licenses allowing a handful of multinationals to operate in the country under certain conditions. On Friday, the US also authorized imports of fertiliser from Venezuela, as the US-Israel war against Iran drives up prices of the key agricultural commodity. ‘Unilateral coercive measures against the Venezuelan people also affect people across Latin America,’ Rodriguez said during a meeting with a Colombian delegation in Caracas. ‘It affects the economy of Colombia, the economy of Venezuela, and our people,’ she said. The talks in Caracas aimed to mark a thaw in relations between the two South American neighbours, with Rodriguez now pushing Colombian rebels back across the border. The Trump administration has pressed both sides to tackle groups operating across the border like the National Liberation Army, or ELN, a leftist guerrilla group deeply involved in the drug trade. ‘This is a problem we have as countries and we are determined to make progress together,’ Rodriguez said. Her predecessor Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were taken by US forces to New York to face trial on drug trafficking charges. They have pleaded not guilty.
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International mediators have proposed a 10-day ceasefire between the United States and Iran, according to a senior Iranian official cited in reports. The measure is described as intended to reduce hostilities and allow renewed talks on a prior interim agreement.
Both sides are assessing next steps in the current regional security situation.
Reports indicate that a US-Iran ceasefire has broken down amid renewed fighting, with the potential impact of mediation efforts by Pakistan, Qatar, and Oman remaining unclear. Earlier diplomatic steps included a June memorandum of understanding between the parties for further negotiations and talks hosted in Geneva in February.
The summary also references Europe’s historical role in diplomacy, including the 1814-15 Congress of Vienna.
Donald Trump stated in a Fox News interview that his representatives had spoken with Iranian officials an hour earlier and that those officials wanted to make a deal to end the conflict, though he noted they had broken prior agreements and expressed uncertainty about whether one would be reached.
He added that people do not want to die and that Iran would need to proceed carefully to avoid further losses. The remarks come amid an ongoing US-Iran conflict that has involved casualties and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, with some social media users criticizing the repetition of similar statements.
Why the Iran-US ceasefire is falling apart Iran and the US have resumed fighting because they don’t see each other as ‘reliable negotiating partners’, says analyst Ali Vaez. Neither Iran nor the United States seems able to deliver a “knockout blow at an acceptable price” to the other side, and both know “they have no choice other than engaging in diplomacy”, but they’re not ready to make uncomfortable concessions, argues Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at International Crisis Group.
Vaez tells host Steve Clemons that Tehran and Washington are trying to “enforce their own interpretation” of the ceasefire agreement they signed last month. President Trump has become “frustrated” with diplomacy because he’s not seeing “the kind of quick results that he likes to see”, Vaez says.