Switzerland and US ease sanctions on Venezuelan figures

The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has lifted a precautionary asset freeze imposed on Marleny Contreras, the wife of Venezuelan Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace Diosdado Cabello, and Jorge Arreaza, a lawmaker from the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

Officials described their inclusion on the sanctions list as an “error”, stating that neither individual held any assets on Swiss territory and that neither faced corruption charges.

The precautionary measure had been enacted on 5 January, two days after US forces bombed Caracas and abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The government in Bern had stated that the decision was intended to prevent illicit funds from being moved out of Switzerland while potential legal investigations proceeded.

The legal measure, which will remain in force until 2030, includes a formal pledge that all funds proven to have been acquired illicitly will be returned to the Venezuelan people.

More than 40 current and former Venezuelan officials, alongside their immediate relatives and alleged associates, remain on the list.

Switzerland adds six new names to sanctions list

According to a report by Venezuelanalysis, the Swiss government added six new names to the list concurrently with the removal of Contreras and Arreaza.

Those newly listed include Álex Saab, a former special envoy of the Venezuelan government and minister of industries, alongside his business partner Álvaro Pulido.

Pulido, who was handed over by Venezuelan authorities to stand trial on money-laundering charges, appeared in a Miami court on 13 October.

Saab, who was surrendered to US agencies, also pleaded guilty to money-laundering charges and pledged to cooperate in other investigations.

The blacklist was also expanded to include lawyer José Vicente Amparan Croquer, who is accused of laundering proceeds from a $1.2 billion corruption scheme at the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

Businessman Mario Enrique Bonilla Vallera, alleged to be a front for the stepsons of Nicolás Maduro, was also placed on the new sanctions list.

The Swiss authorities additionally brought the wives of two previously listed former deputy electricity ministers under the measures.

Within this framework, Milagros Coromoto Torres Morán, the wife and business partner of Nervis Villalobos, and María Consuelo Pardi Celis, the former wife of Javier Alvarado Ochoa, were added to the list.

Dialogue steps between Washington and Caracas

The Swiss move came two days after the US Department of the Treasury removed Jorge Rodríguez, the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly and the chief negotiator in the dialogue process with the opposition, from its sanctions list.

Rodríguez is the brother of interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who had herself been removed from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list in April.

Jorge Rodríguez had first been sanctioned on 25 September 2018, during Donald Trump’s first presidential term.

Individual sanctions freeze the targeted persons’ assets on US territory and prohibit US citizens and companies from conducting transactions with them.

David Alandete, the White House correspondent for the Spanish newspaper ABC, characterised the assembly president’s removal from the sanctions list as a reward for cooperation in a new phase of relations between Caracas and the White House.

The decision was announced on the day that Delcy Rodríguez’s interim government and an opposition delegation led by former lawmaker Dinorah Figuera began a third round of US-backed talks in Caracas.

The talks aim to pursue the renewal process of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) and address political rights and guarantees.

Despite these steps, 254 individuals and entities remain on the sanctions list maintained by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

The Trump administration also maintains sweeping coercive measures against key Venezuelan economic sectors, including oil, mining, and banking.

Since January, Washington has implemented sanctions waivers that allow certain Western companies to access Venezuelan oil and mineral resources under favourable terms.

Although the White House has authorised some US-based companies to trade with the country, export revenues are held in an account at the US Treasury, and US officials determine the volume of transfers to Caracas.

Most recently, the Trump administration issued General License 60A.

The regulation authorises humanitarian relief transactions until 21 April 2027 to address damage caused by the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on 24 June.