US President Donald Trump announced that the Venezuelan government will transfer up to 50 million barrels of oil to the US for sale and he will control the proceeds of this transaction.
“I am pleased to announce that the interim authorities of Venezuela will transfer between 30 and 50 million barrels of high-quality, sanctioned oil to the US“, he wrote on Truth Social. “This oil will be sold at market value and I, as President of the United States, will control this money to ensure that it is used for the benefit of the people of Venezuela and the United States!“ "I have instructed US Energy Secretary Chris Wright to immediately implement this plan," Trump added. As he noted, the oil will be delivered to US ports.
As the American newspaper Politico reported earlier, citing sources, Washington is pressuring the acting President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, to stop oil supplies to countries that the United States considers its adversaries. David Ignatius, a foreign policy columnist for The Washington Post, noted in an article that the US administration has asked Caracas to quickly rewrite the laws on oil production in favor of US companies.
According to him, the US wants US companies to have "preferential access" to Venezuelan oil. Washington administration officials and Venezuelan authorities are discussing the possibility of increasing oil exports from the South American country to the US. On December 16, Trump announced that he had ordered the blockade of all sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.
On January 3, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ivan Gil Pinto said that the United States had attacked civilian and military targets in Caracas. He called Washington's actions a military aggression. A state of emergency was declared in Venezuela. Trump later confirmed the strikes and announced the capture and removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife from the country. They were handed over to the United States and are in a detention center in Brooklyn, southern New York. Trump said that the United States would take temporary control of Venezuela. In addition, the head of the US administration expressed confidence that Washington would receive compensation from Caracas for American oil companies. Trump promised that these companies would allocate funds to restore Venezuela's oil infrastructure.