Venezuelan National Assembly discusses mining bill after reestablishing ties with U.S.

Описание: (10 Mar 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Caracas, Venezuela – 09 March 2026
1. Various of Jorge Rodríguez, President of the National Assembly, Pedro Infante, First Vice President of the National Assembly, Grecia Colmenares, Second Vice President of the National Assembly
2. Orlando Camacho, Member of the National Assembly, greeting Infante
3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Orlando Camacho, lawmaker:
"Today it is our turn, well, to talk about this explanatory memorandum of the Organic Law of Mines. One of Venezuela's most important potentials is its mineral wealth, existing far and wide throughout the national territory. This fact requires regulation grounded in technical criteria, as well as a structure in accordance with these new needs."
3. Orlando handing document to Rodríguez
4. Nicolas Maduro Guerra, Deputy, listening
5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jorge Rodríguez, President of the National Assembly:
"The honorable congresswomen and honorable congressmen who are in favor of approving the Organic Law of Mines Project in its first discussion, in accordance with what is established in Article 203 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, please manifest it with the customary signal. It is approved by an evident qualified majority."
6. Luis Florido, Member of the National Assembly, talking
7. Lawmaker Jorge Arreaza
8. Lawmakers leaving the National Assembly
STORYLINE:
Venezuelan lawmakers on Monday began debating a bill proposed by acting President Delcy Rodríguez to regulate the country’s mining industry and create conditions to attract crucial foreign investment.

The bill aims to generate confidence among foreign investors, many of whom lost assets through expropriations decades ago, and draw much-needed capital to boost the country’s industry.

It partially mirrors a recently approved oil-industry reform that opened the door to privatization, doing away with a tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than two decades.

It is the latest legislative action that Rodríguez has proposed since coming under pressure from the Trump administration in January, when the United States military deposed then-President Nicolás Maduro. She announced the measure last week during the visit to the capital, Caracas, of U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.

During Monday's session lawmaker Orlando Camacho said the the new mining bill shall be "grounded on technical criteria."

Burgum’s visit came as the Trump administration seeks to defend against China’s hold on critical minerals — some of which are abundant in Venezuela — and advances its phased plan to stabilize the South American country that was marred by a complex crisis for the entirety of Maduro’s near 13-year rule.

In addition to oil, Venezuela is rich in gold, copper, coltan, bauxite, diamonds and other precious mined resources, while unsafe working conditions are common in the poorly regulated industry. The elements niobium and tantalum, both considered critical minerals and crucial for smartphones and the batteries of electric vehicles, are extracted from coltan. Bauxite is processed into aluminum, which the U.S. also lists as a critical mineral.

AP Video by Andry Ricón

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