GL-61

Summary

General License No. 61 authorizes U.S. persons to provide goods, technology, software, and services for the installation, maintenance, repair, upgrade, operation, or support of telecommunications in Venezuela, including transactions involving the Government of Venezuela such as CONATEL and CANTV. The authorization covers a broad range of telecommunications activities regardless of transmission medium. Contracts with the Government of Venezuela must be governed by U.S. law and require dispute resolution in the U.S., U.K., France, or Singapore. Certain categories of transactions are explicitly excluded, and ongoing reporting to the State Department is required.

Authorized activities

• Installation, maintenance, refurbishment, repair, upgrade, operation, or support of telecommunications in Venezuela
• Processing payments and arranging shipping, including air freight, logistics, warehousing, insurance, and delivery services
• Interconnection and roaming agreements
• Capacity or infrastructure leases
• Laying, maintenance, repair, refurbishment, upgrade, security, operation, or support of submarine cables and other telecommunications infrastructure or equipment
• Provision, licensing, renewal, maintenance, or support of related software, systems, and services
• Transactions involving the Government of Venezuela including CONATEL and CANTV (subject to contract conditions)
• Transmission by satellite or through submarine cables
• Data, telephone, internet connectivity, radio, television, news wire feeds, and similar services

Conditions

Any contract with the Government of Venezuela must require that (i) contract terms be construed under the laws of a U.S. state or jurisdiction, and (ii) dispute resolution occur in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, or Singapore. The license does not authorize: non-commercially-reasonable payment terms, debt swaps, gold payments, or Venezuelan government digital currency (including the petro); transactions involving persons in or organized under the laws of Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, or China, or entities owned/controlled by or in a joint venture with such persons; unblocking of blocked property; transactions involving a blocked vessel; or formation of new joint ventures or entities in Venezuela in the telecommunications sector.

Reporting requirement

Any person that exports, reexports, sells, resells, or supplies goods, technology, software, or services pursuant to this general license must provide a detailed report to Sanctions_inbox@state.gov identifying the parties involved, the goods/technology/software/services involved (including quantities and values), the dates the transactions occurred, and any taxes, fees, or other payments provided to the Government of Venezuela. Reports are due 10 days after execution of the first such transaction and every 90 days thereafter while transactions are ongoing.