Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez moved to strengthen her grip on power as she faces domestic and foreign threats.
She has shaken up the country’s military, long the basis of power for the ruling Socialist party, replacing at least half a dozen top officials.
Rodríguez has also responded to US pressure by fast-tracking a law to open the state-controlled oil sector to private and foreign investment. The move appears to have worked on at least one person: US President Donald Trump, who has pressed global oil companies to invest tens of billions of dollars in Venezuela in order to tap the nation’s huge crude reserves, said Rodríguez was showing “very strong leadership.”