Black gold remedy - Delcy Rodriguez directs Venezuela's oil revenues into national healthcare overhaul

"Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodriguez announced in a meeting on Tuesday that all profits from the national oil and gas industry will be reallocated to "the health needs of the Venezuelan people". "I have asked the team for an agreement with the private health sector, which we know has idle capacity in private centres and clinics, to address the surgical backlog of our people," Rodriguez announced. "With this plan, we are also already attending to 75 health centres that are brand new and ready for inauguration, and they will be equipped with income from oil revenues," she explained. The interim leader also thanked President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, for Brazil's donation of medicines and equipment used to treat kidney patients. "I want once again, on behalf of the Venezuelan people, to thank President Lula, his government and the people of Brazil for the support they gave us during the hours of greatest anguish caused by the illicit military aggression of the United States against Venezuela," she said. Rodriguez emphasised mental health is a top priority for her administration, noting that after what she described as Washington's 'unprecedented military aggression,' the Venezuelan people have been left 'truly impacted.' On Sunday, US President Donald Trump stated that he was willing to meet with Rodriguez, after confirming that the United States "is getting along very well with the leadership," amid Washington's push to draw US companies back into Venezuela's energy market. This follows a series of geopolitical moves by the Trump administration to assert control over Venezuelan oil exports and integrate the country's production into global markets."