- SANCIONES
The U.S. Treasury sanctions office strikes from eight general licenses the requirement that the contract be governed by the law of a U.S. state, keeping the one that routes disputes to four venues.
Ocho licencias reescritas el mismo dia · 46D, 47B, 48C, 50C, 51C, 52B, 54B y 61A · el anexo de la 50C repite las mismas seis empresas de junio
affects anyone negotiating a contract with the state oil company, the state gold miner or the telephone carrier, and their counsel
- ENERGIA
The overseas arm of India's state oil company puts an amount and a timetable on reviving the San Cristobal field, offering to front the share of the investment owed by its Venezuelan partner.
US$200 millones en doce meses · de unos 4.500 barriles diarios a 50.000 · el socio indio financia también la parte de la estatal y la cobra de producción futura
affects the foreign partner with trapped dividends weighing collection against reinvestment, and anyone measuring how much new crude reaches the market
- JUSTICIA
Parliament approves on first reading the reform of article 65 of the top court's law, handing civil society the majority on the nominating committee.
Comité de postulaciones de 21 a 23 integrantes · 11 diputados y 12 de sociedad civil · aprobada por unanimidad en sesión extraordinaria · falta la segunda discusión
affects anyone signing a contract in Venezuela that may one day be interpreted before a Venezuelan court
- TRANSPORTE
The Colombian arm of the region's largest airline schedules the return of the Bogota-Caracas route three days after Maiquetia reopens.
Regreso el 4 de septiembre · tres frecuencias semanales, lunes, viernes y sabado · venta abierta desde el 29 de agosto · capacidad ajustada por las restricciones del aeropuerto
affects the traveling executive, the importer moving cargo in passenger holds, and the agency that has been rebooking tickets since June
A contract with the state oil company can now be written under Venezuelan law. The question that follows is who would interpret it, and on the same day Washington struck the requirement from eight licenses, Parliament approved on first reading the reform taking from 21 to 23 the committee that will produce the top court's 32 justices. One piece opens; the other still has not a single name appointed. What will show whether the opening is real is not in the license: it is in the law the first contracts signed under the new framework choose. The week also leaves a figure no license moved: the license 50C annex repeats the same six authorized oil companies as in June.
The Treasury sanctions office rewrote eight Venezuela general licenses on Thursday, striking from all of them the requirement that the contract be governed by U.S. law.
All eight carry the office director's signature dated August 27 and cover oil, diluents, services to the energy sector, operations of the annexed oil companies, gold, transactions with the state firm, mining services and telecommunications. Through Wednesday the contract with the Venezuelan government had to specify that it would be construed under the law of a U.S. state and that disputes would be heard in one of four venues. Only the latter survives. The office says it amended in response to Venezuelan investment reforms since January, and does not identify which.
OFAC — Departamento del Tesoro de EE. UU. ↗Ocho licencias reescritas el mismo dia · 46D, 47B, 48C, 50C, 51C, 52B, 54B y 61A · dos preguntas frecuentes nuevas y una archivada · el anexo de la 50C repite las mismas seis empresasChoosing the law and choosing the judge are separate decisions, and through Wednesday the permit controlled both. The law decides what counts as breach and how damages are computed; the seat decides before whom the fight happens. Submitting to foreign law is what the state counterparty had been resisting, so the clause braked negotiation rather than guaranteeing anything. With the law released, the risk shifts to which rules the arbitrator in London or Singapore applies.
The negotiator whose conversation was stuck on that clause, and the services supplier with contracts small enough that arguing foreign law cost more than the margin.
The creditor who expected the contractual opening to arrive with collection routes: the bar on enforcing awards and judgments against blocked property was left worded exactly as before.
INDICADORwhich law the first contracts signed under the new framework choose, and whether the license 50 annex adds any company beyond the six it has repeated since June · las licencias rigen desde el 27 de agosto de 2026 y no tienen fecha de vencimiento; la señal util es el primer contrato conocido bajo el marco nuevo
The overseas arm of India's state oil company set $200 million over twelve months for reviving the San Cristobal field, aiming to multiply its current output tenfold.
The company obtained in mid-August the U.S. license that let it return, and is now putting an amount and a timetable on it. The field produces 4,000 to 5,000 barrels a day and the stated goal is to restore its 50,000 peak. The structure goes beyond its own contribution: the subsidiary would also front the Venezuelan state firm's share, which holds 60%, recovering it out of future production. It also carries trapped dividends above $500 million.
ONGC Videsh (OVL) ↗US$200 millones a doce meses · de unos 4.500 barriles diarios al pico de 50.000 · 40% del campo del socio indio y 60% de la estatal · el socio financia la cuota estatal y la cobra en producciónA minority partner financing the majority's share buys more than barrels: it buys position. The advanced money is repaid in production, so the return depends on the field recovering, and whoever funds it tends to ask for operatorship to control that outcome. It is how a trapped dividend becomes effective control with no sale signed.
The foreign partner turning trapped money into operating control, and the oilfield services firm that bills the revival program.
The state firm, which keeps 60% on paper while ceding technical control of the field, and the partner in another project without its own license watching the entry price rise.
INDICADORwhether the two companies sign the San Cristobal investment plan and whether the document formally transfers operatorship to the Indian subsidiary · el programa declarado cubre los próximos doce meses desde agosto de 2026
The Colombian arm of the region's largest airline set September 4 to resume Bogota-Caracas, with three weekly frequencies and ticket sales opening tomorrow.
The airline ties its calendar to the reopening of Maiquetia, set for September 1, and warns it will fly at adjusted capacity because of the terminal's initial restrictions. It is the first international carrier to set a date, a schedule and a sales opening after the airport authority's announcement. The diversion of Caracas flights, which forces landings in Valencia and a road transfer, has been in place since late June.
LATAM Airlines Colombia ↗Regreso el 4 de septiembre · lunes, viernes y sabado · salida de Bogota 7:35 y retorno de Caracas 11:50 · venta abierta desde el 29 de agosto · capacidad ajustada al inicioAn airline does not schedule on optimism: it loads the itinerary into its reservation system when it has slots, permits and a terminal that answers. Opening sales eleven days before the first flight is the commercial commitment that separates an announcement from an operation, because from then on failure costs refunds.
The business traveler now flying into Valencia and driving three hours on, and the importer moving cargo in passenger holds.
The operator that adapted to the diversion — ground transport and hotels in Valencia — and the carrier still without a date, arriving late to the same market.
INDICADORwhether the airport opens on September 1 without another postponement and whether other international carriers load Caracas itineraries into their booking systems · apertura de venta el 29 de agosto de 2026, reapertura del aeropuerto el 1 de septiembre y primer vuelo el 4
Parliament unanimously approved, on first reading in an extraordinary session, the reform taking the judicial nominating committee from 21 to 23 members and handing civil society the majority.
Parliament's first vice president introduced the bill at Thursday's extraordinary session and placed it among the dialogue table's agreements. Parliamentary representation stays at 11 deputies while civil society rises from 10 to 12, leaving the non-parliamentary bloc with a majority of the body that screens candidates. The text needs a second reading to be enacted, and not one member has been appointed.
Asamblea Nacional ↗Comité de 21 a 23 integrantes · 11 diputados y 12 de sociedad civil · reforma del artículo 65 de la ley del máximo tribunal · falta la segunda discusión · 32 magistrados por relevarWhoever screens decides before whoever votes: the committee builds the list Parliament chooses from, so the filter's composition sets the range of possible outcomes. Going from 10 to 12 non-parliamentary seats changes the body's arithmetic, but the real effect depends on who occupies those seats and which professional body or university they come from, and that is not yet written.
The counterpart that negotiated the reform at the table and can now point to a legislative text rather than a verbal accord.
Anyone with live litigation who needs to know which chamber will decide it: the replacement calendar still has no names and the reform adds one more step.
INDICADORwhether the second reading enacts the text and whether the 12 civil-society representatives are appointed with their professional or academic origin published · la meta declarada sigue siendo relevar a los 32 magistrados antes de enero de 2027
The index closed the week of August 17-21 at 5,864.39 points, up 8.67% over five sessions. For the year it is up 181.64%, above the 175.5% inflation the central bank reported through July.
An index up 181.64% in eight months is not measuring companies worth more: it measures demand for shelter in a small market. The useful comparison is not another exchange but the country's own prices, and there the margin is thin: 181.64% against 175.5% accumulated through July. For the outside investor it says something else: local savings already have somewhere to go without leaving the bolivar, and that destination competes with any instrument offered to them.
The week went into assembling conditions for doing business and ended without a single deal closed under them. Monday the telecommunications license opened equipment sales and barred capital; Tuesday the property law sent the buyer's deposit into a trust; Wednesday Caracas airport set September 1; Thursday commercial creditors formed a bloc and Washington struck its own governing-law requirement from eight licenses. Each piece lowers a different friction and none has yet produced a known contract. Against that backdrop ran a conversation neither side has confirmed: it was reported Thursday, citing a U.S. official, that Washington is negotiating a stake in Venezuelan fields holding 90 billion barrels of proven reserves. With no statement from the State Department, the Treasury or Caracas, the verifiable fact is the report, not the agreement.
- →Sábado 29 de agosto — Ticket sales open for the Bogotá-Caracas route — the commercial commitment separating announcement from operation: from then on failing costs refunds
- →Martes 1 de septiembre — Commercial reopening of Maiquetía airport — the date the schedule of every airline that programmed a return hangs on
- →Viernes 4 de septiembre — First Bogotá-Caracas flight after the diversion — the proof the terminal is operating: three days of margin between reopening and this flight, and not one more