US unfreezing sanctioned funds of Venezuela

CARACAS, Jan 28 (AFP): The United States has started unblocking Venezuelan funds that were frozen under sanctions, the South American country's interim president said Tuesday in the latest sign of rapprochement between long-term foes.
Caracas has been under US sanctions, including an oil embargo, since 2019, following Nicolas Maduro's first disputed claim to reelection the previous year.
During his first term, US President Donald Trump also froze Venezuelan funds in international accounts, which Maduro estimated in 2022 amounted to some $30 billion.
"We are unfreezing resources from Venezuela that belong to the Venezuelan people," Delcy Rodriguez, acting as president since Maduro's toppling in a deadly US military operation on January 3, said on state TV.
"This will allow us to invest significant resources in equipment for hospitals-equipment we are acquiring in the United States and in other countries."
She did not specify the amount. On Rodriguez's watch, various agreements have been struck between Washington and the interim Venezuelan regime.
"I reaffirm what President Donald Trump has said: that we have established channels of communication marked by respect and courtesy, both with the President of the United States and with Secretary (Marco) Rubio, with whom we are establishing a work agenda," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez has sought to improve ties with Trump, who has vowed repercussions if her interim government-made up of Maduro loyalists-does not toe Washington's line.
This includes granting access to Venezuela's vast oil resources.
Trump has since called Rodriguez's leadership "very strong" and said the United States is already taking a cut of Venezuela's oil.
She insists her country is not under US tutelage.