Venezuela's Delcy Rodriguez meets US Treasury officials

Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez met senior US Treasury Department officials on August 10 for talks that her office said covered energy-market stability and the reactivation of financial mechanisms.

The Venezuelan presidency said Rodriguez met US Under Secretary for International Affairs Jonathan Greenstein and Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes Jonathan Burke.

The talks came as instability in Venezuela's electrical grid threatens US plans to increase oil production in the country.

Rodriguez has run Venezuela since the United States deposed former leader Nicolas Maduro in a military raid seven months earlier. Washington has eased some sanctions since Maduro's fall, but still maintains oversight and control of the process.

Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves, but current crude production is about one million barrels a day, compared with an average of three million barrels a day decades ago. Experts cited by AFP attribute the decline to years of corruption and mismanagement, while Venezuela's government says US sanctions caused the damage.