Venezuela inks landmark LNG export deal
Shafaq News– Caracas
Venezuela signed its first contract to export liquefied natural gas (LNG), acting President Delcy Rodriguez confirmed on Saturday, noting that economic diversification and import substitution remain central to the government’s strategy.
Addressing the National Council for the Productive Economy, Rodriguez described the deal as the result of internal work by the state-owned oil company and as a marker of the new economic course adopted by the government.
She explained that foreign currency earnings from hydrocarbon exports will no longer be channeled toward importing fuel. Instead, the revenues will be allocated to social and economic development, including the establishment of sovereign wealth funds designed for long-term investment. Rodriguez further outlined plans to steer financing toward productive sectors such as agriculture, fishing, food industries and tourism, rather than financial or currency speculation.
Vice President Rodriguez was sworn in as interim president following the launch of Operation Absolute Resolve by US forces in Caracas earlier this month, an operation that left 200 people dead and led to the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both later appeared before a federal court in Manhattan on drug trafficking and weapons charges.
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