- INSTITUCIONAL
The acting president told the General Assembly there will be elections in Venezuela and left the timing to the Venezuelan people, with no date or deadline.
Intervención de 18 minutos el 23 de septiembre · diálogo con sectores de la oposición iniciado · sentencia 0001 del 3 de enero, cautelar y sin plazo · artículo 233: 30 días; artículo 234: 90 prorrogables
affects anyone whose disbursement, mandate or investment case is conditioned on an electoral calendar existing
- ENERGÍA
Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago signed a bilateral agenda that includes energy and agreed on official visits to both capitals, without dating either.
Declaración conjunta del 23 de septiembre · nueve áreas de trabajo · visitas sin fecha · licencia de 30 años sobre el Dragón a Shell y a la estatal trinitaria desde 2023
affects anyone pricing the return on a gas project whose liquefaction plant sits on the other side of a maritime border
- FINANZAS
The US Treasury Secretary was at the table where restructuring Venezuelan debt was discussed, and his sanctions office keeps the 2020 bond authorization out of force.
Autorización del bono 2020 corrida al 5 de noviembre por la licencia 5Z · el registro federal publicó las 5X y 5Y, ya superadas · 91 FR 60304
affects anyone running diligence on the 8.5% 2020 bond from the official record rather than the sanctions office's own website
Wednesday's electoral promise comes out of an office its own court left unqualified on January 3, and on that omission hangs whether the clock runs thirty days or up to six months. The commitment exists in the record and not on a calendar, and whoever dated an office in Caracas for 2027 or is drafting a country note is planning against a date that is not there. Port of Spain signed an agenda with Caracas without putting a day on the visits, and the federal record codified two licenses on the Petróleos de Venezuela bond already replaced, while the one in force moves the authorization to November 5. What was signed this week has a signing date; the date it takes effect stays open. The near test falls on November 4, the eve on which that series has been rolled over seven times.
The international reserves balance published by the central bank, with the macroeconomic stabilization fund added.
The September 21 cut marks $13.275 billion, some $63 million below the cut of the 18th and above the $12.804 billion of September 4. The series adds the central bank's reserves and the stabilization fund, so it includes monetary gold alongside foreign currency: it rises and falls with the metal's price and not only with what exports leave behind. This is the line managed from Caracas with no third party in between, and any spending commitment coming out of this week's tables is measured against this balance before it is measured against export volume.
Delcy Rodríguez addressed the 81st General Assembly on Wednesday the 23rd: she said there will be elections in Venezuela and gave no date or deadline. She confirmed political dialogue opened with opposition sectors.
The acting president spoke before the 81st General Assembly on Wednesday, September 23, for eighteen minutes. She said there will be elections in Venezuela, described the process as inclusive and transparent and left the moment to the Venezuelan people. She confirmed her administration opened political dialogue with opposition sectors so voting happens on equal terms. She called judicial reform urgent, naming no body. She thanked Donald Trump for his willingness to resume diplomatic relations and demanded Guyana return to the 1966 Geneva Agreement over the Esequibo. She did not name Nicolás Maduro.
Presidencia de Venezuela — vía El Diario ↗Intervención del 23-sep-2026, 18 minutos · «en Venezuela habrá elecciones», sin fecha · diálogo con la oposición iniciado · sentencia 0001 del 3-ene, cautelar y sin plazo · Maduro no nombradoThe court that placed her in office on January 3, with ruling 0001, did so as a precautionary measure and without saying what kind of presidential vacancy it was covering. That fork sets the clock: if the vacancy is absolute, article 233 requires a vote within 30 days; if temporary, article 234 allows 90 days extendable by another 90. Nine months on, no state body is on record as having chosen a branch, and Wednesday's promise did not either. Until one is chosen, the date is set by whoever calls the vote.
The acting executive: the promise enters the Assembly's record without a deadline anyone can hold it to.
Whoever is planning against a calendar that does not exist: the International Monetary Fund dated its Caracas office to 2027 and the Inter-American Development Bank is drafting a two-year country note.
INDICADORAn act by the electoral body or the National Assembly setting a date, or a formal qualification of the presidential vacancy by any state body. · El discurso no declaró plazo. La ventana de observación es el cuarto trimestre, que abre el 1 de octubre de 2026.
The Venezuelan side declared Trinidad and Tobago's prime minister persona grata on Wednesday the 23rd and both signed a nine-area agenda that includes energy, with official visits agreed and undated.
Delcy Rodríguez and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar met on Wednesday the 23rd at Venezuela's permanent mission to the United Nations. The joint declaration records that the Venezuelan side stated the prime minister is persona grata in Venezuela; the National Assembly had declared her persona non grata in October 2025 over the US naval assets berthed in Port of Spain. Both sides agreed on official visits to Caracas and Port of Spain, undated, and a nine-area work agenda that includes energy.
Gobierno de Venezuela y Gobierno de Trinidad y Tobago ↗Declaración conjunta 23-sep-2026 · nueve áreas · visitas sin fecha · persona non grata desde octubre de 2025 · Dragón a Shell y NGC por 30 años (2023) · 4,2 billones de pies cúbicos · ducto ~22 kmDragon gas has no outlet of its own. Venezuela granted the field in 2023 to Shell and Trinidad's state gas company NGC for thirty years, and the plan takes it out through a subsea pipeline of some 22 kilometres to the neighbour's liquefaction plant. Trinidad's finance minister, Davendranath Tancoo, said on September 3 that the government-to-government agreements set no revenue framework for hydrocarbons entering the country.
Shell and Trinidad's state company NGC: the liquefaction infrastructure sits on their side of the maritime border and the fiscal discussion does not yet bound how much of that value stays there.
The Venezuelan treasury, which would accrue royalties on gas it neither liquefies nor markets. With no written formula, what it accrues is settled in a later negotiation.
INDICADORA text setting the fiscal terms for cross-border gas: an addendum to the government-to-government agreement, a royalty decree, or the economic instrument accompanying the Dragon concession. · Las visitas oficiales a Caracas y a Puerto España que la declaración del 23 de septiembre acordó sin fecha; el mecanismo de consulta al más alto nivel es el vehículo que el propio documento prevé.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was at the New York meeting on Tuesday the 22nd where restructuring was discussed, and on Wednesday the federal record published two PDVSA 2020 bond licenses that no longer govern.
Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that at the previous evening's meeting, at Manhattan's Lotte New York Palace, steps toward restructuring Venezuelan debt were discussed, along with economic stabilization and the electoral path. With him were Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and two senior White House officials; neither side published a readout. That same Wednesday the federal record published, under citation 91 FR 60304, licenses 5X and 5Y on the Petróleos de Venezuela 2020 8.5% bond. Sanctions remain in force and the state company remains designated.
OFAC, Departamento del Tesoro — vía Federal Register ↗Autorización corrida al 5-nov por la 5Z del 16-sep · 5X del 18-jun autorizaba desde el 4-ago · 5Y del 3-ago desde el 17-sep · siete relevos desde diciembre de 2025, ninguno activado · 91 FR 60304The two licenses that entered the formal record no longer govern: 5X authorized from August 4 and 5Y from September 17, and the notice states the second superseded the first in its entirety. The one in force does not appear: it is 5Z, signed on the eve of the previous one taking effect, and it pushes the authorization to November 5. Seventh rollover since December 2025.
Citgo Holding's current ownership structure: while the authorization is not in force, the shares pledged against that bond do not move through this route.
The holder of the 8.5% 2020 bond, now facing seven rollovers of a date that does not arrive. The exit the office itself signposts is a specific license within an agreement, and that runs through the New York table.
INDICADORThe next issuance in the 5 series, or a specific license authorizing an agreement on the 8.5% 2020 bond. · El 4 de noviembre de 2026, la víspera de la fecha que fija la 5Z; es el día en que los siete relevos anteriores se firmaron.