Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodríguez has signed an agreement with US energy giant General Electric to rebuild the country's electricity grid. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.
The signing ceremony took place at the presidential palace. Rodríguez described the move as "a historic step for Venezuela" that would allow the South American nation to restore what she called "an essential service".
Venezuela suffers from frequent and lengthy power cuts. The power system was nationalised in 2007 under Hugo Chávez and is in dire need of repair and investment. Power cuts often last 10 hours or longer and have affected major cities, including the capital, Caracas.
The Maduro government had blamed a drought for the frequent outages, which meant that the Guri hydroelectric power dam was not producing enough energy. But analysts have long warned that a lack of investment and maintenance, coupled with high consumption, have created an energy crisis.
The deal with General Electric was struck under the leadership of Energy Minister Rolando Alcalá, an electrical engineer appointed by Rodríguez three months ago. His appointment was seen as a welcome change after six years in which the ministry was headed by senior military members.
Rodríguez has closely co-operated with the Trump administration. Last week, US forces carried out a military strike in which the leader of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang was killed. US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said the operation had been carried out "in full co-operation with Venezuelan security forces".
However, opposition members have pointed out that there have been few changes to the legislative, executive and judicial branches since Maduro's ouster, and the electoral council is still dominated by Maduro loyalists. Two weeks ago, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress that "ultimately the answer in Venezuela is a free and fair democratic election". He added that conditions must be created, including free media and time for political parties to organise.