Washington — The Trump administration will soon allow Venezuela to do so Selling oil now subject to US sanctionsSecretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that the revenues are initially earmarked for basic government services such as police and health care and are subject to Washington’s oversight.
Rubio said in a press conference that the United States will maintain control in the short term to ensure that oil revenues are used to stabilize Venezuela Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
“The resulting funds will be deposited into an account that we will oversee,” Rubio said, adding that the US Treasury Department would control the process. He said Venezuela “will spend this money for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.”
Rubio offered new insight into how the United States plans to deal with the crisis Selling tens of millions of barrels of oil From Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven reserves of crude oil, it oversees where the money flows. After the United States The raid that captured then-President Nicolas Maduro This month, the United States is working to influence the next steps in the South American country through its vast oil resources.
Rubio said the United States would not support oil industry investments in Venezuela, and would only supervise the sale of sanctioned oil “as an interim step.”
“This is simply a way to divide revenues so that there is not a systemic collapse as we work through this recovery and transition,” Rubio said.
Democrats and some Republicans on the committee pressed Rubio for more details about the matter Trump’s plans for Venezuela’s oil. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., asked for assurances from Rubio that the sale of Venezuelan oil would be fair and open, and not manipulated for profit. Oil companies allied with Trump.
“You take their oil at gunpoint, keep it and sell it… You decide how and for what purposes this money will be used in a country of 30 million people,” Murphy said. “I think a lot of us think this is doomed to fail.”
Under Maduro, Rubio said Venezuela’s oil industry benefited the country’s corrupt leaders and countries like… China, which bought Venezuelan oil at a discount. He added that Venezuela’s interim leaders are now helping the United States confiscate illegal oil shipments.
Rubio said the United States will give Venezuela’s current leaders instructions on how to spend and not spend the money, and will conduct audits to ensure it is used as intended. He said Venezuela could use this money to pay for police or buy medicine.
Rubio said the fund was initially set up in Qatar to avoid seizure of proceeds by American creditors and because of other legal complications stemming from the United States not considering Maduro’s government as legitimate.
He added that hundreds of millions of dollars have already been allocated and up to another $3 billion is expected to be provided.
“It is an account that belongs to Venezuela, but the US sanctions on it are the prevention mechanism,” Rubio said. “We only control the distribution of funds, we do not control the actual funds.”
Earlier this month, acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez said cash from oil sales would flow into two sovereign wealth funds: one to support crisis-hit health services and a second to boost public infrastructure, including the electrical grid.
The country’s hospitals are so poorly equipped that patients are required to have supplies needed for their care, from syringes to surgical screws. They must also pay for laboratory and imaging tests at private hospitals.
On Tuesday, during a televised event to announce the renovation of various healthcare facilities, Rodriguez said her government and the US administration “have established respectful and courteous channels of communication” since Maduro’s arrest.
Neither Rodriguez nor her government press office immediately commented on Rubio’s comments on Wednesday.
At Rodriguez’s request, Venezuelan lawmakers last week began discussing reform of the country’s energy law. The proposed changes aim to create conditions to attract much-needed private foreign investment.
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Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela.