Practice

Venezuela's reopening is creating opportunities across multiple sectors, each with its own regulatory complexity. My practice is built to cover the full spectrum of legal work that international companies and their counsel need when entering or re-entering the Venezuelan market.

I work directly with international oil companies, mining operators, infrastructure developers, and financial institutions. I also serve as Venezuelan counsel to leading international law firms on cross-border matters. In every engagement, my focus is the same: delivering commercially grounded legal advice that accounts for both the opportunity and the risk.

Oil & Gas

Venezuela holds the world's largest proven oil reserves, and the 2026 Hydrocarbons Law reform represents the most significant opening to private investment since nationalization in 1976. I have spent the better part of my career advising international operators and oilfield service companies on Venezuelan upstream, midstream, and downstream matters.

My experience spans the structuring of joint ventures with PDVSA, the negotiation of heavy crude partnership agreements for vertically integrated operations, the renegotiation of legacy contracts to establish new mixed company structures, and advisory work on non-associated gas licenses — including the landmark Deltana Platform licensing rounds, where I advised multiple international participants on joint bidding agreements and regulatory frameworks. I also regularly advise on oil service contract tenders, off-take agreements, strategic alliances, and the disposal and acquisition of energy assets.

As the regulatory framework continues to evolve, from the new Hydrocarbons Law to the expanding sequence of OFAC general licenses and Canada's sanctions regime under the Special Economic Measures Act, I help clients structure their Venezuelan operations in coordination with their international counsel to ensure compliance across jurisdictions.

Mining & Natural Resources

Venezuela's mineral wealth, gold, iron, bauxite, coltan, diamonds, and rare earths, is among the most significant and least developed in the Americas. The proposed 2026 Mining Law reform, combined with growing international interest in the Arco Minero and other mineral-rich regions, is positioning the country as a frontier mining jurisdiction with enormous potential.

I lead PAC's mining and natural resources practice. My experience includes advising a foreign investor on the negotiation and formation of Venezuela’s largest mixed gold-mining company, covering regulatory and fiscal regime design, corporate structuring, and ongoing operational matters. I have also advised mining companies on regulatory compliance, commercial agreements, and market entry strategies.

For Canadian, U.S., and European mining companies evaluating Venezuelan opportunities, whether as juniors seeking exploration rights or majors considering strategic acquisitions, I provide end-to-end legal advisory from initial country risk assessment through concession structuring, environmental permitting, joint venture negotiation, and fiscal optimization. I work closely with clients’ international counsel to navigate the interplay among Venezuelan mining regulations, OFAC sanctions, and Canadian sanctions under the Special Economic Measures Act.

Infrastructure & Electricity

After years of severe underinvestment, Venezuela's infrastructure and electricity sectors represent one of the country's most urgent reconstruction priorities, and one of its largest investment opportunities. Grid rehabilitation, new generation capacity, water systems, and transport infrastructure all require the kind of public-private partnership frameworks and concession structures that attract international capital.

My experience in this space includes advising international power companies on equipment lease and purchase agreements with Venezuelan generators, and leading the financial restructuring of power generation and transmission projects in Peru during my tenure at CAF. PAC has also advised the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) on matters related to Venezuela's electrical system, and has provided labor and regulatory counsel to major Venezuelan utilities. As development finance institutions and international contractors re-engage with Venezuela, I work at the intersection of project structuring, regulatory navigation, and institutional relationships to help clients position for this emerging pipeline.

Project Finance & Development Finance

Complex projects in Venezuela, whether in energy, mining, or infrastructure, require financing structures that account for sovereign risk, sanctions compliance, currency controls, and the involvement of multilateral institutions. This is where my experience as Director of the Special Assets & Restructuring Division at CAF – Development Bank of Latin America becomes a distinctive asset.

At CAF, I managed a $300 million portfolio of distressed and strategic assets across Latin America, including leading the financial restructuring of power generation and transmission projects in Peru, giving me direct insight into how development finance institutions evaluate, structure, and manage risk in the region. I understand the frameworks and expectations of CAF, the IDB, the World Bank, and bilateral DFCs, not from the outside, but from having operated within one of the region's most important multilateral lenders.

In my practice, I advise on project financing structures, EPC contract configuration, off-take agreements, fiscal stability mechanisms, and the legal architecture of public-private partnerships. For clients and their financial advisors structuring Venezuelan projects, I bring both the legal expertise and the institutional perspective needed to build bankable deals.

Cross-Border Transactions & Dispute Resolution

International investment in Venezuela invariably involves cross-border complexities, joint-venture structuring, M&A, production-sharing arrangements, and the protection of foreign investment through bilateral treaties and arbitration mechanisms. I advise clients on the full transaction lifecycle, from initial structuring and due diligence through negotiation, execution, and, when necessary, dispute resolution.

My dispute resolution experience includes negotiating the settlement of an ICSID award between a foreign mining investor and the Venezuelan state, a settlement that directly led to the formation of Venezuela's largest gold mining mixed company. I have also negotiated settlements between major international oilfield service companies and PDVSA, and between a multilateral political risk insurer and PDVSA following the exercise of investment guarantees. I have worked as part of international legal teams on ICC and ICSID arbitrations, and I regularly advise on fiscal stability clauses, investment protection mechanisms, and the enforcement of international awards — critical tools for investors operating in jurisdictions with evolving legal frameworks.