By LCN Business Desk
A sanctions licence for disaster relief is unusual in one respect. It lets money reach a government the same programme exists to keep money from.
What did Treasury issue?
General Licence 60A, and an amended answer explaining the money.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on 16 October 2026 that it was issuing Venezuela-related General Licence 60A, "Authorizing Transactions Related to Earthquake Relief Efforts in Venezuela", together with an amended Frequently Asked Question, FAQ 1263, which had first been released on 17 July 2026.
The licence, authorising transactions connected with relief after the June earthquakes, runs alongside seven others that are unchanged. The question the amended answer settles is where the money goes.
"GL 60A authorizes all transactions related to earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela under the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations, which includes payment of taxes, tolls, and fees to the Government of Venezuela connected with such relief efforts. Payments related to earthquake relief that are authorized by GL 60A do not need to be paid into the FGDF."
Source: OFAC FAQ 1263, updated 16 October 2026.
What is the FGDF, and why does an exemption matter?
It is the account that keeps licensed payments away from Caracas.
The Foreign Government Deposit Funds Account is the mechanism through which several Venezuela general licences require payments owed to the Government of Venezuela to be made. A company operating under those licences pays what it owes into the account rather than to the government directly.
An exemption from it means the opposite: money moving to the Venezuelan state in the ordinary way. OFAC has granted that for relief, and only for relief.
How the licensing regime works, and what GL 50C authorised for six named companies, was set out in Washington Licensed Six Companies to Work Venezuela's Oil.
Which licences still require it?
Seven, named in the same answer.
| Licence | FGDF payment requirement |
|---|---|
| GL 60A, earthquake relief | Exempt |
| GL 46E | Remains in place |
| GL 48C | Remains in place |
| GL 49B | Remains in place |
| GL 50C | Remains in place |
| GL 51D | Remains in place |
| GL 52C | Remains in place |
| GL 54C | Remains in place |
Source: OFAC FAQ 1263, updated 16 October 2026.
OFAC then closes the gap it has just opened, in the same paragraph: payments outside the scope of GL 60A but authorised under other licences carrying the requirement "must continue to be paid into the FGDF and may not be recharacterized as earthquake relief or otherwise modified for the purpose of avoiding payment into the FGDF."
A regulator does not write that sentence unless it expects someone to try.
What was the earthquake?
Two large shocks a minute apart, in June.
The United States Geological Survey records a magnitude 7.5 event on 24 June 2026 at 22:05 UTC, 20 km west of Catia La Mar in Venezuela, at a depth of 10 km. One minute earlier, at 22:04, it records a magnitude 7.2 event 20 km east of San Felipe. A magnitude 5.0 followed at 22:54, 30 km north of Catia La Mar.
Catia La Mar sits on the La Guaira coast beside Caracas. This newspaper reported the regional response at the time in R3CCI Stands with the Venezuelan People Following Catastrophic Twin Earthquakes.
The same survey records a magnitude 5.2 event on 20 July 2026, 17 km north-east of Scarborough in Trinidad and Tobago, and a magnitude 5.0 on 2 October, 26 km south-south-west of Güiria on Venezuela's Paria peninsula.
What else has Washington done this week?
Removed a Venezuelan designation.
Two days before the licence, on 14 October, OFAC deleted Jorge Jesús Rodríguez Gómez from the Specially Designated Nationals list. The entry recorded a date of birth of 9 November 1965, Venezuelan citizenship, Cédula 6823952, and an address at El Valle, Libertador, in the Capital District.
The pace of Venezuela-related action from that office over a comparable earlier period was examined in In Six Weeks, One US Office Froze a Tourism Ministry, Blocked a Fishing Fleet and Opened a Door.
Why does a Venezuelan licence matter in the Caribbean?
Because the licences have already reached across the water once.
Trinidad and Tobago shares a gas field with Venezuela and has had its own dealings turn on these authorisations, reported in Washington Authorised BP and Shell for Venezuela on 10 June.
A relief channel is narrower than a gas licence, and it is open to anyone whose transactions are genuinely for earthquake relief. The warning attached to it applies with the same force to a Caribbean shipper, contractor or charity as to anyone else: relief is relief, and relabelling is not.
What the title card shows
Every data point on the article's title card, in text.
- GL 60A. The Venezuela-related general licence issued on 16 October 2026, authorising transactions related to earthquake relief.
- Exempt from the FGDF. Payments authorised under GL 60A, including taxes, tolls and fees to the Government of Venezuela, need not be paid into the Foreign Government Deposit Funds Account.
- 7 licences unchanged. GLs 46E, 48C, 49B, 50C, 51D, 52C and 54C keep the requirement.
- M7.5 and M7.2. The two earthquakes recorded on 24 June 2026, one minute apart, near Catia La Mar and San Felipe.
- 14 October 2026. The date OFAC removed Jorge Jesús Rodríguez Gómez from the Specially Designated Nationals list.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does General Licence 60A authorise?
All transactions related to earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela under the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations, including payment of taxes, tolls and fees to the Government of Venezuela connected with such relief.
Do payments under GL 60A go into the Foreign Government Deposit Funds Account?
No. OFAC states that payments related to earthquake relief authorised by GL 60A do not need to be paid into the FGDF.
Which Venezuela licences still require FGDF payment?
GLs 46E, 48C, 49B, 50C, 51D, 52C and 54C, according to OFAC's amended FAQ 1263.
Can a payment be described as relief to avoid the FGDF?
No. OFAC states that payments outside the scope of GL 60A but authorised under other licences must continue to be paid into the FGDF and may not be recharacterised as earthquake relief or otherwise modified to avoid that payment.
What earthquake does the licence refer to?
The United States Geological Survey records a magnitude 7.5 event on 24 June 2026 near Catia La Mar, Venezuela, and a magnitude 7.2 event one minute earlier near San Felipe, both at a depth of 10 km.