MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, made a pitch for foreign investment in Venezuela that painted a rosy picture: “Venezuela today has an environment of security and stability.”
Rodríguez, 56, who took office after Nicolás Maduro’s capture on Jan. 3, was a speaker during Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative Institute‘s three-day summit on Wednesday morning in Miami Beach.
“Investors should know that there is security, that there are laws in Venezuela that allow for the safe return of their investments. We are in a process of stabilization,” Rodríguez said in Spanish, as she appeared remotely on a large screen.
Rodríguez’s presentation was part of the FII Priority “Capital In Motion” program’s “The New LATAM Order” segment at the Faena Forum, at 3300 Collins Ave.
“In three of the last four years, Venezuela led South American growth,” Rodríguez said. “Out of the sectors that grew the most, we have construction, oil, finance and insurance, as well as mining.”
Rodríguez said Venezuela offers the lowest production costs.
“When we consider a barrel of oil, its production cost, 64% of that barrel has room for negotiation, with the investor regarding royalty reductions, income tax reductions, and most importantly, the dividends the investor receives,” Rodríguez said. “If there is a large investment, obviously, the return will be higher.”
Rodríguez, a key member of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, said that she was grateful President Donald Trump was supportive of a bilateral diplomatic agenda.
“At this time, our diplomats are heading to Washington,” Rodríguez said, later adding that she looked forward to a future for Venezuela that was “free of all kinds of sanctions.”
After Maduro’s capture, Venezuela’s National Assembly passed a new law that ended the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.’s monopoly by giving foreign producers autonomy to operate and export Venezuelan oil in an effort to welcome private capital.
The U.S. Treasury recently authorized PDVSA to sell Venezuelan oil to U.S. companies.
“We have received more than 120 energy companies, mainly from the United States, but also from the Middle East, from Asia, from Africa, from Europe,” Rodríguez said about her efforts to lure new investors, adding, “If you ask artificial intelligence how many meetings President Rodríguez has held, it will tell you 236.”
When it was time for questions, and Rodríguez welcomed them, the video feed got disconnected. A presenter apologized and attributed the disruption to a “technological glitch.”
Former Miami Mayor Francis Suarez was also a speaker at the summit on Wednesday morning, and Trump was set to speak at the summit on Friday.
Watch the summit on YouTube
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