LatinNews Daily - 26 March 2026

*US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has been cited in the media as saying that a US delegation returned from a trip to Caracas at the start of March with US$100m in Venezuelan gold. According to US broadcaster CNBC, Burgum said that “there hadn’t been a shipment of precious metals between Venezuela and America in over 20 years… At the end of the two days, we were able to bring home US$100m of gold – physically, the gold”. Burgum’s comments came as he addressed energy executives at CERAWeek, a conference organised by international credit ratings agency S&P Global in Texas. Burgum reportedly said that he spent 10 hours with Venezuela’s President Delcy Rodríguez during the 4-5 March trip and highlighted the potential role that US investment could play in transforming Venezuela’s mining sector, as well as its hydrocarbon sector. “The mining opportunity – that’s an industry that’s been in complete collapse in Venezuela and they know that,” he was cited as saying, adding: “It’s down to artisanal miners controlled by gangs, [with] probably some of the worst environmental practices in the world… They want a clean environment, they want to have modern investment, they want to see growth in their country”. Venezuela’s national assembly is debating a mining reform bill which would increase protections for investors, and President Rodríguez has said that she expects it to be approved this week. The US government also eased some sanctions on the Venezuelan gold sector earlier this month.

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