Ricardo Cusanno is a Venezuelan entrepreneur. He served as President of Fedecámaras from 2019 to 2021 and is currently on the Restructuring Board of the Venezuelan Red Cross (2023-2024).
Guacamaya, January 18, 2025. For many years, Venezuela endured a perfect storm of challenges: overwhelming international sanctions, a shattered productive system, and a narrative that positioned the State and private enterprise as unyielding foes. Those of us who opted to remain and support businesses, create jobs, and maintain supply chains did so out of steadfast belief in this country and its people. Today, with a historic geopolitical shift underway, that resilience is finding not only recognition but also unprecedented opportunity.
The change in the international landscape, bolstered by a new U.S. strategy toward Venezuela, reveals a clear fact: international capital is eager to return in large numbers, focusing primarily on energy and minerals.
Rather than posing a threat, the return of international capital offers the vital leverage we’ve long awaited for true and sustainable reconstruction. The real challenge—and our urgent call—is to ensure that this new investment empowers us rather than replaces us, positioning the national productive sector as a cornerstone of this revitalization. A strong state depends on a diverse and robust economy, and this represents our decisive opportunity to lay its groundwork.
Against this backdrop, we view the announcement of a legislative initiative to modernize the legal framework as a positive step, implicitly acknowledging that regulatory reform is essential to instilling the confidence required by both national and international investors. However, simply changing laws isn’t enough. The true measure will be the specific content of the new regulations and their capacity to offer real legal certainty, effectively eliminating the barriers that currently obstruct production, investment, and trade—key tools for fostering better living conditions for those of us in the country.
The Strategic Opportunity: Beyond Barrels
The magnitude of this opportunity is immense. Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but its current output is only a small fraction of its historic capabilities. Experts predict that, given the right circumstances, production could rise by 40% by 2027, aiming to recover millions of barrels per day within the next decade.
Achieving this will necessitate investments totaling hundreds of billions of dollars. This is not merely a call to passively await the arrival of capital; it’s a call for collaborative action to center the national productive sector—entrepreneurs and workers—in this rebirth. Major U.S. energy and service companies are already positioning themselves, and now the onus is on the national productive sector to proactively tackle these challenges. Their expertise and capital are crucial, but the physical reconstruction of industry, logistics, power generation, and the associated supply chains must springboard local industry forward.
The mining sector, with international firms establishing critical partnerships, presents yet another frontier of opportunity—not just in gold but also in strategic minerals like coltan and nickel, which are vital for the global tech transition. Here, national and international capital can collaborate to develop a high-value industrial hub.
Indispensable Conditions: Trust, Clarity, and Complementarity
For this opportunity to benefit everyone, solid foundations are essential. Despite their eagerness, international investors clearly point out obstacles: a legal framework that ensures security. The legislative reform initiative proposed by the Acting President is an opportunity to cultivate trust, and it’s crucial that society as a whole participates in this dialogue, as our future hinges largely on these agreements.
Thus, we propose two fundamental pillars for this new phase:
1) A Pact of Guarantees and Reciprocity: It is crucial to pursue an efficient and coherent legislative reform that provides long-term certainty. The suggestion of potentially “non-application” of certain norms through extraordinary mechanisms may offer some initial agility, but it does not replace the necessity for a stable, predictable, and transparent legal framework. Foreign investment, in turn, must commit to technology transfer programs, local talent training, and productive linkages that prioritize Venezuelan suppliers. The goal is not isolation but integration from a stance of strength and confidence.
2) A Permanent State-Productive Sector Technical Roundtable: This initiative, far from being a mere formality, should serve as the hub for designing sectoral policies. Its purpose would be to assess the impact of major projects (oil, mining, gas) on national industry, anticipate distortions, and create pathways for Venezuelan small and medium-sized enterprises to qualify as suppliers of goods and services. The priority must be to establish a virtuous cycle where profits from the strategic sectors are reinvested in diversifying the local economy.
A Call for Joint Action
The time calls for pragmatism and a clear vision from the state. We urge authorities to ensure the announced legal reform process evolves into genuine dialogue with the productive sector to collaboratively establish the trusting environment that capital demands. The clarity and reliability of the rules are fundamental to strengthening internal production capacity. For Venezuelans, we call for your active participation in fortifying the State.
To the national duo of Business and Workers, we remind you that your understanding of the local context, your resilience, and the significance of human capital are invaluable assets that we should value. And to international investors, we extend a warm invitation, offering you a nation with unmatched potential and a private sector eager to be your strategic partner, not a bystander.
Venezuela stands at a pivotal moment that could shape its productive future for years to come. We can either allow international capital to operate in isolation or work together to forge agreements that transform this influx into the definitive engine of a sovereign, diversified, and prosperous economy. The stated intentions are merely the first step. Now, we require determined action and collective consensus. The task is vast, yet the willingness of those of us who believe in and have labored for this country is even greater.
Choosing to stay was the right decision, now more than ever. Defending dialogue and rejecting anything—either internal or external—that obstructed the country’s progress was indeed controversial, but undeniably the right route.
Now is the moment to collectively build on strong and clear foundations the productive nation we rightfully deserve. The inclusive and prosperous Venezuela we have always envisioned.