Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodríguez has signed an agreement with US energy giant General Electric Vernova to reconstruct the country's long-deteriorating electricity grid, describing it as "a historic step" at a televised ceremony in Caracas. Venezuela's power system, nationalised in 2007 under former president Hugo Chávez, has suffered chronic underinvestment and frequent blackouts lasting ten hours or more, with analysts attributing the crisis to neglected infrastructure and high consumption rather than the drought previously cited by the Maduro government. The deal signals a broader economic opening toward US companies under Rodríguez, who took office after Nicolás Maduro was seized by US forces in January, though critics note that key state institutions remain under the control of her party.