Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced today that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has resumed relations with Venezuela after a six-year institutional blockade.

Through state televisionon April 16, the Acting President Delcy Rodríguez made the announcement, affirming that the country is normalizing “all processes involving rights and responsibilities in the body.”

The announcement coincided with the promulgation of the Venezuelan Organic Mining Law, marking a significant step towards economic recovery and international reintegration for the South American nation.

Acting President Delcy Rodriguez highlighted the return to the IFM as a shifting geopolitical landscape and a major diplomatic victory for Venezuela, dismantling the opposition’s lobbying efforts.

“It is a very important step for the Venezuelan economy, but also what Venezuela means for our region. It has been a great achievement of Venezuelan diplomacy”, Rodríguez declared, extending gratitude to those who facilitated the process, including U.S. President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and their respective teams, alongside the United Arab Emirates, Brazil and Qatar.

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“Venezuela has been part of this body since 1946”, recalled Rodríguez. “We are normalizing all processes that involve Venezuela’s rights in the organization”, she stated, emphasizing the country’s significance for the region.

“It was not a formal gesture. It was the map of a negotiation that took months to settle and which the Venezuelan far-right tried to sabotage without success”, she stressed.

“It is very unfortunate that Venezuelan political extremism has taken on the task of visiting capitals in Europe and other countries to try to prevent this step so important for our economy”, she added, denouncing the efforts for boycotting the agreement.

For her part, IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, formally confirmed today the resumption of relations with Venezuela through an official statement.

“In accordance with the opinion of the member countries of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that represent a majority of the total voting power of the IMF, and in line with long-standing practice, the IMF has resumed its relations with the Government of Venezuela, under the administration of interim President Delcy Rodriguez”, specified the communiqué. This technical formulation carries significant political weight, indicating the international community’s recognition of the current Venezuelan Government as a legitimate interlocutor.

In a related development, the World Bank (WB) also announced the resumption of its relations with Caracas, following the outcome of the IMF voting process. This synchronized reintegration into major international financial institutions signifies a crucial turning point for Venezuelan economic prospects and its standing on the global stage.

Over $5 Billion To Be Unlocked

The suspension of relations between IMF and Venezuela dated back to March 2019, when the lending organization recognized illegally the parliamentary far-right opposition as the illegitimate and imposed Government from abroad, aligning with the sanctions campaign then promoted by Washington.

Since then, Venezuela had been excluded from Article IV consultations and its reserves remained frozen. These include approximately 3.568 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), equivalent to about 5.1 billion U.S. dollars. About that, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez clarified that the unfreezing of these substantial funds is expected to be earmarked for the recovery of public services, meanwhile she reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to work for a national consensus for peace and the definitive lifting of the U.S. sanctions that still weigh against the Nation.

Previously, on April 14, the U.S. OFAC had eased sanctions on Venezuelan Central Bank and three other state financial institutions, allowing them to operate in the U.S. financial system for the first time since 2017, as part of the re-established diplomatic and consular relations with the United States on March 5.

The IMF decision is also a consequence of the Bolivarian Government’s efforts to normalize diplomatic relations and end unilateral economic sanctions, after the U.S. attack against the country on January 3, which resulted with the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, the First Combatant Cilia Flores, prisoners still in a jail in New York, waiting for trial.

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