March 10 (UPI) -- Venezuela's National Assembly approved in a first debate a new mining bill aimed at attracting foreign capital and offering stronger legal guarantees for the exploitation of the country's mineral resources.
Lawmakers convened Monday, a few days after the United States and Venezuela resumed diplomatic relations that had been severed since 2019.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has said her government seeks to build a long-term cooperation agenda with Washington in areas including energy, mining and counternarcotics following the Jan. 3 capture of Nicolás Maduro.
Orlando Camacho, president of the Assembly's Energy and Petroleum Committee, said the bill reflects that "one of the potentialities Venezuela possesses is its mineral wealth across the national territory," according to Globovisión.
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