Venezuela’s new leader calls for opening oil industry to foreign investment and warmer US ties

Venezuela’s Acting President Calls for Foreign Investment in Oil Sector Amid U.S. Intervention

In her first state of the union address, Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez signaled a dramatic shift in the nation’s economic policy, advocating for increased foreign investment in the state-run oil industry. This move comes less than two weeks after the United States captured and removed former President Nicolás Maduro from power, fundamentally altering Venezuela’s political landscape.

Speaking before foreign diplomats and lawmakers in Caracas on Thursday, Rodríguez declared that a “new policy is being formed in Venezuela,” urging the approval of oil sector reforms that would secure foreign firms’ access to the country’s vast petroleum reserves, estimated to be among the largest in the world.

“Venezuela, in free trade relations with the world, can sell the products of its energy industry,” Rodríguez stated, marking a significant departure from the nationalistic economic policies that have defined Venezuelan socialism for over two decades.

The Trump administration has indicated its intention to control future Venezuelan oil export revenues, claiming this oversight will ensure profits benefit the Venezuelan people rather than government officials. Responding to this pressure, Rodríguez outlined a plan to channel oil revenues into two sovereign wealth funds—one supporting the crisis-stricken healthcare system and another bolstering deteriorating public infrastructure.

Venezuela’s healthcare infrastructure has collapsed under Maduro’s rule, with hospitals so poorly equipped that patients must often provide their own medical supplies, from basic items like syringes to specialized surgical materials.

Despite criticizing the U.S. for Maduro’s capture, which she called a “stain on our relations,” Rodríguez struck a conciliatory tone, advocating for renewed diplomacy between the longtime adversaries. “Let us not be afraid of diplomacy,” she said. “I ask that politics not be transformed, that it not begin with hatred and intolerance.”

Her succinct 44-minute address marked a stark contrast to the hours-long anti-American tirades characteristic of her predecessors, suggesting a pragmatic approach to the new political reality.

Rodríguez appears to be walking a delicate line. A portrait of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, was prominently displayed as she spoke. She called for the U.S. to “respect the dignity” of Maduro, who is currently detained in a Brooklyn jail after pleading not guilty to drug-trafficking charges. While extending an olive branch to Washington, she also asserted Venezuela’s sovereignty.

“If one day, as acting president, I have to go to Washington, I will do so standing up, walking, not being dragged,” Rodríguez declared. “I’ll go standing tall… never crawling.”

The speech came as Venezuela’s Nobel Prize-winning opposition leader María Corina Machado met with President Donald Trump in Washington. Since Maduro’s removal, Trump has surprisingly excluded Machado from discussions about Venezuela’s future while embracing Rodríguez, praising the longtime Maduro loyalist as a “terrific person” after their first known phone call on Wednesday.

Machado, whose party is widely considered to have won Venezuela’s contested 2024 presidential elections despite Maduro’s claims of victory, presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump during their closed-door meeting. “We can count on President Trump,” she told supporters afterward, without elaborating on specifics.

Machado’s political future remains uncertain as Rodríguez’s interim government has effectively been relieved of holding elections for the foreseeable future. Her meeting with Trump received no coverage in Venezuela, where state-run media continues broadcasting pro-government messaging, including statements from Iranian and Russian officials condemning “U.S. aggression” and extensive coverage of rallies demanding Maduro’s return.

In Caracas, teachers marched through streets carrying posters condemning the U.S. for “kidnapping” Maduro, while heavily armed national police maintained a visible presence. Pro-government graffiti across the city read: “To doubt is to betray.”

“They’ve kept the same anti-imperialist rhetoric going, but more moderated,” said David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at Tulane University. “Their idea is to give Trump everything he wants economically, but stay the course politically.”

On Caracas streets, many citizens declined to comment on the situation, fearing reprisals as Maduro’s security apparatus remains intact. Others expressed confusion about their nation’s uncertain future.

“It’s a complete sea of uncertainty, and the only one who now has the power to make decisions is the United States government,” said Pablo Rojas, a 28-year-old music producer who was following Trump’s meeting with Machado closely. “It’s impossible to know what will happen.”