Bessent: US may lift more Venezuela sanctions next week

Asked when more sanctions could be removed from Venezuela, Bessent said, "It could be as soon as next week," but did not identify which ones.

The moves are part of the Trump administration's effort to stabilize Venezuela and encourage the return of US oil producers to the country a week after US forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in Caracas and brought him to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

US sanctions have banned international banks and other creditors from engaging with the Venezuelan Government without a license. The institutions have cited this as an impediment to a complex $150 billion debt restructuring widely viewed as a key to the return of private capital to Venezuela.

On Friday evening, President Donald Trump signed an executive order blocking courts or creditors from impounding Venezuelan oil revenue held in US Treasury accounts, declaring that these funds should be safeguarded to help Venezuela create, "peace, prosperity and stability."