US President Donald Trump said that Venezuela’s interim government will deliver up to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, and that the proceeds “will be controlled by me” as president.
“The Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America,” Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
“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,” he added.
It comes as Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez insisted that no foreign power was governing her country, after Mr Trump said that the US would “run” it during a transition after ousting her predecessor.
Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as acting president of Venezuela
Ms Rodriguez, who was vice president under toppled leader Nicolas Maduro, has given mixed signals about how much she is prepared to cooperate with Mr Trump, at times sounding conciliatory, at others defiant.
Speaking days after US special forces captured Mr Maduro and his wife in a raid in Caracas prefaced by airstrikes, Ms Rodriguez said, “The government of Venezuela is in charge in our country, and no-one else.”
“There is no foreign agent governing Venezuela,” she added.
Ms Rodriguez has offered an olive branch but also appeared anxious to keep on her side the hardliners who control the security forces and paramilitaries, which have patrolled the streets since Mr Maduro’s capture.
“We are a people that does not surrender, we are a people that does not give up,” she declared.
In its first confirmation of losses, Venezuela’s military yesterday published a list of 23 troops, including five generals, killed in the US strikes.
Top ally Cuba separately issued a list of 32 dead Cuban military personnel, including two colonels and a lieutenant colonel, many of whom were members of Mr Maduro’s security detail.
Venezuela has not yet confirmed the number of civilian casualties in the operation.
People attend a rally in support of ousted Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in Caracas
Thousands of supporters of the presidential couple, including powerful Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, marched through Caracas to demand their release.
Some carried figurines of Mr Maduro’s “Super Moustache” super-hero alter ego or of Ms Flores and wore red caps marked with Mr Maduro’s slogan: “No war, yes peace.”
Mr Maduro and Ms Flores appeared in court on Monday in New York, where they pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has called on the United States to ensure they receive a fair trial.
Interim president’s challenges
Ms Rodriguez has sought to project unity with Mr Cabello and Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, two hardliners seen as the main powerbrokers in the Maduro administration.
Read more: US operation in Venezuela undermined international law, says UN
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who has been sidelined by the US in the post-Maduro transition, warned in a Fox News interview that Ms Rodriguez was not to be trusted.
“Delcy Rodriguez as you know is one of the main architects of persecution and corruption,” she said.
“She is certainly not an individual that could be trusted by international investors,” she added.
Mr Trump has warned that Ms Rodriguez will pay “a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she does not comply with the United States agenda.
The constitution says that after Mr Maduro is formally declared absent – which could happen after six months – elections must then be held within 30 days.
Ms Machado told Fox News she was confident the opposition, widely seen as the real victors of 2024 elections in which Mr Maduro claimed a third term, would win “over 90% of the votes.”