Context On 6 March 2026, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General License No. 51 , "Authorizing Certain Activities Involving Venezuelan-Origin Gold," a measure that begins to reopen Venezuela's mining sector to regulated US commercial activity. The licence was signed by OFAC Director Bradley T. Smith under the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 591. It is the first general licence under the Venezuela sanctions framew

Guns without foundations As European leaders commit to historic levels of defence spending, a structural problem is being systematically underweighted in public debate: the basic materials from which modern weapons are made are, to a remarkable degree, sourced from the very states that European rearmament is designed to deter or hedge against. The immediate catalyst for renewed focus is the conflict environment. Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine has driven sustained demand for