Alí Rodríguez

Alí Rodríguez Araque (born 1937) is a Venezuelan politician, diplomat, and oil adviser to President Hugo Chávez. He was minister of energy of Venezuela from 1999, when Chávez took office, until 2000. In 2000 he was elected secretary-general of OPEC and served from January 2001 to July 2002. He then became President of Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). He remained in that position until November 2004 when Chávez appointed him foreign minister in a cabinet reshuffle. As of 2005, Rodríguez is still the foreign minister.