Venezuela's acting president pushes oil reforms to lure foreign investment

Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodrguez on Thursday asked lawmakers to approve reforms to the oil industry that would open the doors to greater foreign investment during her first state of the union speech less than two weeks after its longtime leader was toppled by the United States.

Rodrguez, who has been under pressure by the Trump administration to fall in line with its vision for the oil-rich nation, said sales of Venezuelan oil would go to bolster crisis-stricken health services, economic development and other infrastructure projects.

She outlined a distinct vision for the future, straying from her predecessors, who have long railed against American intervention in Venezeula. “Let us not be afraid of diplomacy” with the US, said Rodriguez, the former vice president who must now navigate competing pressures from the Trump administration and a government loyal to former President Nicols Maduro.

The speech, which was broadcast on a delay in Venezuela, came one day after Rodrguez said her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro in what she described as “a new political moment” since his ouster.

On Thursday, Trump met at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader Mara Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. But in endorsing Rodrguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, Trump has sidelined Machado.

Rodrguez, who had a call with Trump earlier this week, said Wednesday evening on state television that her government would use “every dollar” earned from oil sales to overhaul the nation’s public health care system. Hospitals and other health care facilities across the country have long been crumbling, and patients are asked to provide practically all supplies needed for their care, from syringes to surgical screws.

The acting president must walk a tightrope, balancing pressures from both Washington and top Venezuelan officials who hold sway over Venezuela's security forces and strongly oppose the US. Her recent public speeches reflect those tensions — vacillating from conciliatory calls for cooperation with the US, to defiant rants echoing the anti-imperialist rhetoric of her toppled predecessor.

American authorities have long railed against a government they describe as a “dictatorship,” while Venezuela’s government has built a powerful populist ethos sharply opposed to US meddling in its affairs.

For the foreseeable future, Rodrguez's government has been effectively relieved of having to hold elections. That's because when Venezuela’s high court granted Rodrguez presidential powers on an acting basis, it cited a provision of the constitution that allows the vice president to take over for a renewable period of 90 days.

Trump enlisted Rodrguez to help secure US control over Venezuela’s oil sales despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term. To ensure she does his bidding, Trump threatened Rodrguez earlier this month with a “situation probably worse than Maduro.”

Maduro, who is being held in a Brooklyn jail, has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges.

Before Rodrguez’s speech on Thursday, a group of government supporters was allowed into the presidential palace, where they chanted for Maduro, who the government insists remains the country’s president. “Maduro, resist, the people are rising,” they shouted.

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