Venezuela: Interim President Rodríguez Says Non-Essential State Assets to Be Offered to Private Sector, 44 Energy Contracts Under Negotiation
Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodríguez said on October 29 that the government had made progress in identifying state assets to offer to the private sector and former owners, a process that could reverse nationalisations ordered by the late former President Hugo Chávez.
"I have instructed that non-essential assets held by the state be assessed to determine which can be offered to the private sector or returned to their former owners. This process is already well advanced," Rodríguez said. In April, she appointed a government commission to audit and evaluate state-owned assets, including infrastructure in energy, power and mining.
Chávez-era nationalisations left more than a dozen international arbitration claims, most of them unsettled. Rodríguez said 44 energy contracts were being negotiated under the state oil law approved in January, while the government has stated that 61 oil agreements have been signed, without providing details. Mining negotiations were also under way, involving gold, aluminium and iron.
Rodríguez also instructed law-enforcement agencies not to arrest people without a warrant and vowed to defend peaceful protest. She said the government planned four quarterly increases in the national minimum wage in 2027.
In a separate appearance on state television, Rodríguez said diplomat Oliver Blanco, previously vice foreign minister, would become the country's top diplomat, while his predecessor, Félix Plasencia, would become presidential adviser for international affairs.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：委内瑞拉临时总统德尔西·罗德里格斯。照片：委内瑞拉总统府（Presidencia de Venezuela），公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。Photo: Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodríguez. Photo: Presidencia de Venezuela, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
