Trump announces plan to sell Venezuelan oil as US signals it is in talks with Caracas

WASHINGTON, USA – President Donald Trump on Tuesday, January 6, unveiled a plan to refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that had been stuck in Venezuela under US blockade, in a further sign that Washington is coordinating with the Venezuelan government since capturing President Nicolas Maduro.

Maduro is in a New York jail awaiting drug charges after the Saturday morning raid that the US estimates killed about 75 people, according to a Washington Post report citing officials familiar with the matter.

The US has yet to report a death toll from an operation that reasserted US 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.

The operation brought condemnation from Russia, China, and Venezuela’s leftist allies, while allies of the United States have urged adherence to international law.

Maduro, 63, pleaded not guilty on Monday to narcotics charges. He said he was a “decent man” and still president of Venezuela, while standing in a Manhattan court shackled at the ankles and wearing orange and beige prison garb.

US to take Venezuelan oil

While Venezuela’s political future remains uncertain amid US claims that it will be running the South American country, for now Trump appears to be working with Rodriguez and other senior officials from Maduro’s government, disappointing the opposition that had hoped to play a larger role.

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.

US 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 US 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 Corporation, 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, according to three sources familiar with the planning.

VENEZUELA OPPOSITION SEEKS ROLE

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 in an interview on Monday with Fox News.

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, sources said. The classified assessment was one reason why Trump decided to back Rodriguez instead of opposition leader Machado, the sources said.

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 CBS News in a separate interview on Tuesday.

The Trump administration has put hardline Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello on notice that he could be at the top of its target list unless he helps Rodriguez meet U.S. demands and keep order, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Cabello, who controls security forces accused of widespread human rights abuses, is one of a handful of Maduro loyalists that Trump has decided to rely on as temporary rulers to maintain stability during a transition period, said one source briefed on the administration’s thinking. Cabello has been on the streets of Venezuela, patrolling with security forces.

“Always loyal, never traitors. Doubt is betrayal!” they chanted in one of several overnight social media posts by the Venezuelan government.

The US is also pressuring the interim Venezuelan government to expel official advisers from China, Russia, Cuba and Iran, the New York Times reported, citing anonymous U.S. officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio listed the Trump administration’s demands in a classified meeting on Monday with senior congressional leaders, the Times said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Since the seizure of Maduro, Venezuelan authorities have ordered the arrest of anyone who collaborated.

Fourteen media workers were briefly detained covering events in Caracas on Monday, and shots were fired on Monday night into the sky above the city, which a Venezuelan official said came from police to deter unauthorized drones.

“There was no confrontation, the entire country remains completely calm,” Vice Minister of Communications Simon Arrechider told reporters. – Rappler.com