Venezuela Prepares to Sell or Return Non-Essential State Assets, Rodríguez Says

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez says the government is preparing to sell or return non-essential state assets. She announced the plan in a televised address on Thursday, Oct. 29. Rodríguez named no companies, sectors or deadlines.

What Rodríguez Said

“I have instructed that non-essential assets held by the state be assessed to determine which can be offered to the private sector or returned to their former owners,” Rodríguez said, according to Reuters. “This process is already well advanced.”

She said private property is a right protected and guaranteed by the Constitution, CNN en Español reported. Reuters says the move could reverse nationalizations ordered by Hugo Chávez.

Rodríguez said 44 energy contracts are being negotiated under the oil law approved in January. The government says 61 oil agreements are already signed, without giving details. She added that talks are under way in mining on gold, aluminum and iron.

Who Decides What Is Non-Essential

A special commission set up in April is sorting the assets. Reuters says it audits state-owned assets in energy, power and mining. Hydrocarbons are excluded, because oil falls under the new hydrocarbons law.

When the commission started work, Rodríguez described four categories. Strategic assets stay under direct state control. Public-private partnerships cover assets the state keeps but opens to private capital.

A third group is non-essential assets that could be offered for sale. The fourth is assets in critical condition, which would be liquidated.

The commission includes Economy Vice President Calixto Ortega and Finance Minister Anabel Pereira. Luigi Pisella, a former Conindustria president, represents business. In June he said working assets would be offered, while idle ones would be liquidated.

How Many Companies Are Involved

No official count has been published. The watchdog Transparencia Venezuela counted at least 920 state-owned or majority-state companies as of April 30, Efecto Cocuyo reported. Hydrocarbons account for 160, manufacturing for 156 and agrifood for 152.

Efecto Cocuyo puts the number of companies expropriated under Chávez at just over 1,000. Not all can be returned. Bloomberg Línea reported in August that no public inventory of returnable assets exists.

Cedice Libertad, a property-rights group, has logged 654 expropriations or forced acquisitions. It says many assets have since changed hands, closed or lost value. A precedent is the Sambil La Candelaria mall, seized in 2008 and returned in 2022.

Obstacles and Open Questions

Chávez-era takeovers left more than a dozen international arbitration claims, most still unsettled, Reuters says. ConocoPhillips alone won an award of about $8.5 billion, Bloomberg Línea reported. Caracas also faces a restructuring of roughly $240 billion in debt.

Transparencia Venezuela warns that privatization moves this year lack competitive standards and checks on buyers' funds. It says at least 45 companies were sold or placed in alliances since 2015 under opaque conditions. Pisella has said results will be announced publicly.

Political Backdrop

Rodríguez has led Venezuela as acting president since January. U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro in Caracas that month, CNN reported. She spoke hours before opposition leader María Corina Machado held a news conference in Caracas.

Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday, Oct. 25. Rodríguez called the return a “show that could have been avoided.”

In the same address, Rodríguez said elections will be held. She also ordered security forces not to detain anyone without a warrant, except in flagrant cases.