Researched 12 June 2026. I have not attempted Venezuelan onboarding.
Short answer
Venezuela is reopening faster than its stock market is. Since Maduro’s fall on 3 January 2026, the new administration has passed a modern mining law (April 2026) and OFAC has been easing US sanctions through a stream of general licenses — but the Caracas Stock Exchange (BVC) remains effectively closed to foreign individuals: capital controls, settlement barriers and a missing custody chain mean its spectacular 2026 rally (a 50% single-session jump on 6 January) has been an entirely domestic affair.
The practical route is offshore, and the menu is short: Gold Reserve (TSX-V: GRZ, US OTC: GDRZF) is the flagship — 45% of the giant Siembra Minera gold-copper deposit plus a ~US$1.2bn arbitration claim against the state. Rusoro Mining (TSX-V: RML) is the claim-sibling: nationalized mines, a ~US$1.5bn award, and a stated intent to retake its assets. Roland Mineral Enterprises (TSX-V: RME) is the speculative land-grab newcomer. Beyond that: defaulted Venezuelan sovereign/PDVSA dollar bonds (a recovery trade, not equity). There is no Venezuela ETF, and no Venezuelan ADR trades in the US any more — the old CANTV/Mercantil lines are long dead.
Best practical route
| Route | What you get | Local brokerage account needed |
|---|---|---|
| Gold Reserve (TSX-V: GRZ / OTC: GDRZF) via any TSX-V-capable broker (IBKR and most Western brokers) | The flagship listed Venezuela-reopening play: 45% of Siembra Minera + the arbitration claim | No |
| Rusoro Mining (TSX-V: RML) via the same brokers | The claim-sibling: ~US$1.5bn award + asset-recovery optionality | No |
| Defaulted Venezuela / PDVSA US$ bonds via a bond-capable broker or distressed desk | A sovereign-recovery trade, trading around ~40 cents | No |
| Local BVC via a casa de bolsa | The ~32 local listings — banks, food, rum, telecom | Yes — and in practice closed to foreign individuals for now |
The local market — close, but closed
The Bolsa de Valores de Caracas is real and lively: ~32 listed companies (Mercantil Servicios Financieros, Banco Provincial, Banco Nacional de Crédito, Ron Santa Teresa, CANTV, Sivensa), trading through licensed casas de bolsa (Italcapital is one of the established ones) on the SIBE electronic system. The IBC index has gone vertical since the political change — but the gains are bolívar-denominated and the buying is domestic. For a foreign individual the blockers are practical, not theoretical: getting money in through what remains of the FX framework, getting it out again, and finding a casa de bolsa willing and able to onboard a non-resident with a compliant custody chain. None of that has a documented retail path today.
Expect this to change. If the new framework extends to capital markets the way it already has to mining and energy, a casa-de-bolsa route for foreigners could open quickly. If you manage to onboard with one, report it — first-hand accounts are how this page gets ahead of the news.
Sanctions — read this before anything else
US sanctions on Venezuela have not been repealed — they are being selectively licensed away:
- GL 49A authorizes negotiating new investment contracts in oil/gas (now also petrochemicals and electricity), contingent on further OFAC authorization.
- GL 50A gives operating authorization to named energy majors partnered with PDVSA.
- GL 51A authorizes dealing in Venezuelan-origin minerals including gold, even in transactions involving the government or state miner Minerven — directly relevant to the mining reopening (and to Siembra Minera’s restart).
The executive orders and blocking designations remain in place underneath, which means everything not covered by a license is still prohibited for US persons — and the licenses can be revoked, snapping restrictions back. Buying GRZ on the TSX-V is buying a Canadian-listed, Bermuda-domiciled company — not a sanctioned transaction — but anything touching Venezuelan entities directly (BVC listings with state-linked counterparties, bond settlement chains) deserves a careful look, especially for US persons. Non-US investors carry lighter obligations but should still screen counterparties.
Offshore-listed alternatives
| Ticker | Exchange | Company | Venezuela angle | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GRZ | TSX-V | Gold Reserve | 45% of Siembra Minera (~52Moz Au, ~5bn lb Cu; 2018 PEA) + ~US$1.2bn arbitration claim | Bermuda-domiciled; US OTC: GDRZF. Under the new mining law the state need no longer hold a majority, and Gold Reserve has preference to go from 45% toward 100% — potentially offset against the claim |
| RML | TSX-V | Rusoro Mining | Gold mines nationalized in 2011; ~US$1.5bn arbitration award | Openly seeking to retake its Venezuelan assets since the political change — the second claim-plus-restart vehicle |
| RME | TSX-V | Roland Mineral Enterprises | Venezuelan mineral-rights acquisition program | Speculative: a newcomer assembling rights, with access to Placer Dome’s historical Las Cristinas data — optionality, not assets |
| — | — | Defaulted Venezuela / PDVSA bonds | Sovereign recovery | ~40c; via bond-capable brokers; settlement/sanctions diligence required |
| CVX | NYSE | Chevron | Licensed Venezuelan oil operations | Immaterial to the company — not a Venezuela play, just the name people reach for |
Honourable mentions, not table-worthy: Aris Mining (ex-Gran Colombia) is trying to recover legacy Venezuelan assets, but it is a Colombian producer with Venezuela as a footnote; Crystallex — the other famous Venezuela claim — was consumed by its own insolvency process. The shortness of this menu is itself the story: for a country of Venezuela’s size, three TSX-V tickers and a bond stack are the entire listed universe.
Verdict
Three TSX-V tickers cover the listed Venezuela trade. Gold Reserve is the serious one. Rusoro has a similar claim-plus-assets story at an earlier stage, and Roland is a punt on mineral rights. Any Western broker that handles the TSX-V can buy all three. The more interesting question is the Caracas exchange itself: 32 stocks in a melt-up that foreigners can’t buy. If non-residents get a way in, this page changes a lot. For now the realistic choices are GRZ, possibly the defaulted bonds, and waiting. Nothing here is tested first-hand, and the rules are moving.
Sources & dates
Public sources checked (June 2026):
- OFAC Venezuela-related sanctions program + 2026 general licenses (49A/50A/51A, amendments through 10 June 2026): https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-programs-and-country-information/venezuela-related-sanctions
- Paul Hastings, Morgan Lewis and Sullivan & Cromwell client alerts on the post-Maduro Venezuela sanctions landscape (January–June 2026)
- Baker McKenzie Cross-Border Listings Guide — Caracas Stock Exchange overview (~32 listings, casa de bolsa intermediation)
- Bolsa de Valores de Caracas / IBC index data; EBC Financial Group on the January 2026 rally (domestic-driven)
- Gold Reserve Limited public materials; Cantor Fitzgerald research (5 May 2026) via Undervalued-Shares.com
- Swen Lorenz, “How to invest in Venezuela’s giant gold mine,” Undervalued-Shares.com Weekly Dispatch, 12 June 2026 (public): https://www.undervalued-shares.com/weekly-dispatches/
- MINING.COM, “Venezuela mining reset meets ground-level challenges” (Rusoro and Gold Reserve as return candidates); Bloomberg, 6 Jan 2026 (gold miner aims to retake Venezuelan assets)
- Roland Mineral Enterprises press release — Venezuela mineral-rights acquisition program (Junior Mining Network)
- TopForeignStocks Venezuela ADR list — zero Venezuelan ADRs trading in the US (Jan 2026)