Alí Rodríguez Araque (born 1937) is a Venezuelan politician, diplomat, and oil adviser to President Hugo Chávez. During the sixties and early seventies, he was active in the marxist guerrilla operating in Venezuela. He was known as "Commander Fausto", allegedly acting as an explosives expert. He was one of the last guerrilla fighter to put down arms, after the so called "appeasement" policy (Pacificación) signaled the end of the armed insurgency. He was pardoned and became involved in parliamentary politics, and was elected to the then National Congress. He acquired a reputation as a negotiator and consensus seeker. 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), where he masterminded the firing of more than twenty thousand workers as a retaliation for a failed strike. 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.
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