President Donald Trump on Tuesday unveiled a plan to refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that had been stuck in Venezuela under U.S. blockade, in a further sign that Washington is coordinating with the Venezuelan government since capturing President Nicolas Maduro.
– Trump on social media announced that Venezuela would sell 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil that would be shipped directly to the United States under a plan to be executed immediately by Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
– “This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump said. Based on recent prices for Venezuelan oil, the deal could be worth up to $1.9 billion.
– U.S. officials have yet to outline a legal framework for seizing Venezuelan oil, though the U.S. has accused Venezuelan tankers of breaking U.S. sanctions to ship Iranian and Venezuelan oil.
– Trump has also suggested the U.S. would help rebuild the country’s oil infrastructure to benefit oil majors such as Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, which were affected by a Venezuelan oil nationalization by former President Hugo Chavez, and Chevron Corp , which has continued to operate there.
– U.S. oil chief executives are expected to visit the White House as early as Thursday to discuss investments in Venezuela
– With the U.S. as its main ally, Venezuela would become the energy hub of the Americas, restore the rule of law, open markets and bring home exiles, opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado said
– Trump has, however, been told by the CIA that Rodriguez and other senior officials from Maduro’s government are the best bet to maintain stability
– Machado, who said she wants to return to Venezuela to lead the country, said Rodriguez was “nothing like a moderate,” and had been one of the main architects of Venezuelan repression.
– “I think it’s evident the United States has instructed her to take certain actions regarding further dismantling of the criminal structure as a path forward towards a complete transition to democracy in Venezuela,” Machado told
– The U.S. is also pressuring the interim Venezuelan government to expel official advisers from China, Russia, Cuba and Iran.
– Since the seizure of Maduro, Venezuelan authorities have ordered the arrest of anyone who collaborated.
– The U.S. has yet to report a death toll from an operation that reasserted U.S. willingness to intervene in Latin America with perhaps its most dramatic military operation since the 1989 invasion of Panama that seized Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega.
– Nor has Caracas given a number for those killed, but the army posted a list of 23 names of its dead.
– Venezuelan officials have said a large part of Maduro’s security contingent was killed “in cold blood,” and Cuba has said 32 members of its military and intelligence services in Venezuela were killed.
– Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez on Tuesday declared a week of mourning for members of the military killed in the raid.