United States Energy Secretary Chris Wright has disclosed plans to leverage control over Venezuela’s oil exports and revenue generated by the Spanish-speaking nation.
In a January 7 press conference in Washington, Wright said the move is central to the U.S. strategy for driving political and economic change in Venezuela.
“The leverage from oil is key to getting change in Venezuela,” Wright said. “If we control the flow of oil, the sales of oil, and the flow of the cash that comes from those sales, we have large leverage. But without large leverage, as we’ve seen in the last 25 years, you don’t get change.”
Following a January 3 U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, President Donald Trump had announced plans to run Venezuela until a “proper transition can take place”.
The South American nation sits atop the world’s largest proven oil reserves, and according to the U.S. Energy Secretary, oil sales will remain Venezuela’s main source of revenue, hinting at plans to eradicate illicit activities.
“We’re not taking their oil, we have put a blockade on and prevented them from selling their oil. That’s choked off cash flow. They get cash from selling oil and from selling drugs and from human trafficking. So we choked off their revenue sources to get leverage over them,” he said.
With the US controlling Venezuela’s oil exports, Wright said the U.S. plans to lift its oil embargo on Venezuela and control the proceeds from the sales.
“We’re gonna restart the selling of Venezuelan oil on global crude markets, put it into accounts in the name of Venezuela, and bring those funds back into Venezuela for the benefit of the Venezuelan people,” he said. “We’re just going to control the flow of those funds so we have leverage over the people in power to drive them in a better direction.”
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) confirmed in a January 7 fact sheet that Washington has begun marketing Venezuelan crude internationally.
Proceeds from the sales will initially be deposited into U.S.-controlled accounts at globally recognized banks, a step the DOE said is intended to ensure transparency and safeguard how the funds are ultimately distributed.
As plans to control Venezuela’s oil exports advance, the U.S. continues to maintain strong bilateral ties and energy partnerships with several countries in the region, including Guyana.
Guyana’s Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, has already assured that offshore oil and gas exploration activities continue without a hitch.
