(AFP) – The United States could run Venezuela and tap into its oil reserves for years, President Donald Trump said in an interview published Thursday, less than a week after toppling Nicolas Maduro. “Only time will tell” how long Washington would demand direct oversight of the South American country, Trump told The New York Times. But when asked whether that meant three months, six months, or a year, he replied: “I would say much longer.”
His assertion of US dominance over Venezuela comes despite its interim leader Delcy Rodriguez saying there is no foreign power governing Caracas. “There is a stain on our relations such as had never occurred in our history,” Rodriguez said of the US attack to depose her predecessor. US special forces snatched President Maduro and his wife Saturday in a lightning raid and whisked them to New York to face trial on drug and weapons charges, underscoring what Trump has called the “Donroe Doctrine” of US dominance over its backyard.
“We obviously have maximum leverage over the interim authorities in Venezuela right now,” following the capture operation, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “We’re continuing to be in close coordination with the interim authorities, and their decisions are going to continue to be dictated by the United States of America.” Trump has said the United States will “run” Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves. “They’re giving us everything that we feel is necessary,” Trump told the Times.
But Washington has no boots on the ground and appears to be relying on a naval blockade and the threat of further force to ensure Rodriguez’s cooperation.
Caracas announced on Wednesday that at least 100 people had been killed in the US attack and a similar number wounded. Among those hurt were Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said, though the couple were seen walking unassisted during a New York court appearance earlier this week. According to Havana, the death toll includes 32 members of the Cuban military. Maduro, like his firebrand predecessor Hugo Chavez, employed specialized Cuban soldiers as bodyguards.
Trump’s administration has so far indicated it intends to stick with Rodriguez and sideline opposition figures, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado. But it has given few details about its plans. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted on Wednesday, after meeting lawmakers on Capitol Hill critical of the post-Maduro planning, that the United States was “not just winging it”.
But so far, the US plan relies heavily on what Trump said on Tuesday was an agreement for Venezuela to hand over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States for it to then sell. Trump said Wednesday that under the deal Venezuela “is going to be purchasing ONLY American Made Products, with the money they receive” from the oil. That would include agricultural products, machinery, medical devices, and energy equipment, he added. Rubio said that in a second “recovery” phase, US and Western companies would have access to the Venezuelan market and “at the same time, begin to create the process of reconciliation nationally within Venezuela”.
Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA said it was discussing oil sales with the United States for the “sale of volumes of oil” under existing commercial frameworks. But Washington is looking at longer-term control, according to Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “We’re going to market the crude coming out of Venezuela, first this backed-up stored oil, and then indefinitely, going forward, we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela,” Wright said Wednesday.
Trump and his advisors are considering a plan for the US to exert some control over PDVSA, the Wall Street Journal reported. The US would then have a hand in controlling most of the oil reserves in the Western Hemisphere, as Trump aims to drive oil prices down to $50 a barrel, the paper reported. Trump will Friday meet executives from US oil companies, whom he has said will invest in Venezuela’s crumbling facilities, despite no firm having yet made such pledges.
– Danny KEMP with Javier TOVAR in Caracas
© 2024 AFP
