European Parliament Defies U.S. Shift, Demands Sanctions Stay On Delcy Rodríguez and Other Venezuelan Officials

The European Parliament approved a resolution calling for sanctions to remain in place against Delcy Rodríguez and other Venezuelan officials, putting the EU legislature on a collision course with Washington's recent move toward economic reengagement with Caracas.

The resolution urges European Union governments not to lift restrictive measures until Venezuela takes verifiable steps toward democracy, including free elections, the full release of political prisoners, and guarantees for opposition leaders. One draft motion specifically called on Venezuelan authorities to immediately revoke the political disqualification and travel ban imposed on opposition leader María Corina Machado.

The vote comes as the Trump administration signals a sharply different approach. Jarrod Agen, director of the U.S. National Energy Dominance Council, is set to visit Venezuela to meet with energy and mining executives as well as government officials, in what a White House spokesperson described as an effort to rebuild economic ties and promote investment that would benefit Americans and Venezuelans.

Today, the first direct commercial flight between the U.S. and Venezuela took off from the Miami International Airport. Several Trump administration officials and oil executives have traveled to Caracas and held meetings with Venezuelan government officials.

That contrast has turned Venezuela into a test of whether Western pressure on Caracas will remain tied to democratic concessions or shift toward energy, minerals, and strategic interests.

In Strasbourg, lawmakers argued that sanctions should remain until Venezuela adopts concrete measures. The resolution also calls for the unconditional release of people detained for political reasons. A European Parliament motion cited at least 470 political prisoners still unjustly detained and said Venezuela's amnesty law had failed to guarantee their immediate release.

Rodríguez, once sanctioned by the EU as a senior figure in Nicolás Maduro's government, has become the center of the diplomatic dispute. She traveled to Barbados this week seeking oil and gas investment, part of a regional push to reposition Venezuela as an energy partner.

For the Venezuelan opposition, the European Parliament's position offers a counterweight to the U.S. opening. Machado, who has been on a European tour, has used meetings in Spain and France to warn that Venezuela's political structure remains intact despite diplomatic overtures to Rodríguez's government.

In Madrid, Machado called for new international allies to help "displace" what she described as the Venezuelan regime represented by Rodríguez. "This criminal structure must be displaced from power," she said at the headquarters of Spain's conservative Popular Party.

Machado also met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris earlier this month. Reuters reported that the two discussed Venezuela's political situation and support for a democratic, peaceful transition aligned with the will of Venezuelans.

The European Parliament's vote does not directly set EU sanctions policy, which is decided by member states. But it sends a political signal at a moment when Europe is weighing how to respond to the new reality in Caracas and to Washington's more transactional approach.

The U.S. position is increasingly shaped by energy security. Trump met with oil and gas executives this week, including Chevron CEO Mike Wirth, and that the conversation included Venezuela, oil futures, natural gas and shipping.