President Donald J. Trump announced Wednesday that Venezuela will commit revenue from a newly arranged oil deal exclusively toward purchasing American products.
Trump said Tuesday that Venezuela’s interim authorities will transfer between 30 million and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States as part of a major energy agreement. In a social media post, Trump wrote that Caracas has agreed to spend its oil-sale proceeds on “ONLY American Made Products,” including U.S. agricultural goods, medicines, medical devices and equipment to modernize Venezuela’s electricity grid and energy facilities.
“I have just been informed that Venezuela is going to be purchasing ONLY American Made Products, with the money they receive from our new Oil Deal,” Trump said. “These purchases will include, among other things, American Agricultural Products, and American Made Medicines, Medical Devices, and Equipment to improve Venezuela’s Electric Grid and Energy Facilities.”
Trump said the move cements the United States as Caracas’s principal economic partner and benefits citizens of both nations.
“In other words, Venezuela is committing to doing business with the United States of America as their principal partner — A wise choice, and a very good thing for the people of Venezuela, and the United States,” Trump noted.
After U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro and removed him from power in a large-scale strike, the United States moved to dominate across the Western Hemisphere and tap Venezuela’s massive energy reserves, energy experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Analysts said American companies originally built and led Venezuela’s oil industry before Hugo Chávez nationalized it. Trump’s action, those analysts went on to say, now reopens the path for renewed U.S. influence.
With Chevron standing as the only major American operator in the country, experts said Washington can leverage its position in Venezuela to counter China, Russia, and even Canada in the years ahead. Venezuela possesses the world’s largest proven crude reserves, yet about half of its population lives in poverty.
The administration and economists, including Heritage Foundation Chief Economist E.J. Antoni, said U.S.-led cooperation to revive Venezuela’s oil sector could deliver tangible gains for both nations. China and Russia, by contrast, spent years expanding their foothold in Venezuela, with a Russian state-owned energy firm becoming a key production partner after U.S. sanctions sidelined other buyers.
(Featured Image Media Credit: White House)
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