Venezuela seeks to return expropriated assets to attract foreign investment

The government of Venezuela is exploring the return of assets expropriated from private owners in order to send a signal of economic opening and attract investment, according to Bitácora Económica. The initiative comes amid a diplomatic rapprochement between Caracas and Washington that has raised expectations of a gradual lifting of trade restrictions.

The return of land, companies and state facilities represents a reversal of the nationalization policies applied in previous decades. However, the process itself faces practical difficulties stemming from the lack of a clear record of the exact number of assets that can be restored to their former owners, an obstacle that complicates the legal certainty demanded by international markets.

Alongside this debate over private property, Canadian mining company Gold Reserve resumed operations in the country after the release of its legal representative, José Ignacio Moreno Suárez, according to El Nacional. The company maintains an open claim of $1.26 billion against the state over the historical expropriation of the Las Brisas and Las Cristinas deposits in Bolívar state, which highlights the outstanding tensions between the need to attract capital and the resolution of accumulated liabilities.

For economic analysts, the high country risk premium significantly raises the cost of international credit and deters a large inflow of capital, limiting the real scope of any regulatory easing. Adding to this is the impact of inflation, which according to projections by the International Monetary Fund will reach 387.4% by the end of 2026, after recording 252.0% in 2025 and 49.4% in 2024.

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