BOGOTA, Colombia / ISTANBUL

Venezuela's interim president announced Friday that the country's economy grew 8.5% on a yearly basis in 2025, according to state television VTV.

Speaking to the parliament in the capital Caracas, Delcy Rodriguez emphasized that the Venezuelan economy has grown uninterrupted for 19 quarters.

Rodriguez, who came to power earlier this month when President Nicolas Maduro was taken by US forces to New York to face trial, said Venezuela is one of the leading economies in Latin America.

She also said they would be submitting a proposal to parliament to reform the Organic Hydrocarbons Law, saying that they have achieved "unprecedented success" in the last 10 years, all the gasoline supplied to the country has been produced by the labor of their workers, and they have not imported a single drop of fuel.

Rodriguez also said two funds would be created to manage all foreign currency entering the country, adding that those are two sovereign funds.

She said she also requested the creation of a technological platform that will make the use of these resources transparent, free from bureaucracy, corruption, and irregularities. Hospitals, schools, housing, and water, electricity, and other public services will be improved, she pledged.

Interim role

Following the Jan. 3 US airstrikes on Venezuela and the subsequent capture of Maduro, Vice President Rodriguez was sworn in on Jan. 5 as the nation’s interim president.