Andean Group - May 2026

In a move that echoed the opening up of Venezuela’s oil and gas sectors earlier this year, on 9 April the national assembly approved sweeping legislation aimed at transforming a mining sector plagued by illegality and environmental degradation into a hub for the West’s critical mineral supply chains. The law is part of the economic opening orchestrated by President Delcy Rodríguez in an awkward tightrope act that seeks to balance the socialist legacy of her predecessors, Nicolás Maduro (2013-2026) and Hugo Chávez (1999-2013), with the interests of the US government that captured Maduro in January and is seeking to benefit from Venezuela’s natural resources. We take a detailed look at the new legislation in the first article of this May 2026 edition of the Latin American Regional Report: Andean Group.

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