Venezuela's future to be "dictated" by US indefinitely as Trump asserts total imperial control
Washington DC - President Donald Trump's administration said Wednesday it will dictate decisions to Venezuela's interim leaders and control the country's oil sales "indefinitely" after overthrowing Nicolas Maduro in a violent coup.
The US could effectively run Venezuela and tap into its oil reserves for years, Trump later told the New York Times.
US special forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife on Saturday, renditioning them to New York to face trial on drug and weapons charges.
"We obviously have maximum leverage over the interim authorities in Venezuela right now" following the capture operation, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a briefing.
"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 repeatedly said the US will "run" Venezuela, which has the world's largest proven oil reserves, in a blatant violation of international law.
"They're giving us everything that we feel is necessary," Trump told the Times. "Don't forget, they took the oil from us years ago."
When asked if US control of the country would last three months, six months or a year, Trump told the paper: "I would say much longer."
Trump's administration – which has so far indicated it intends to stick with Maduro's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, and sideline opposition figures, including right-wing opposition leader Maria Corina Machado – has given few details about its plans.
Trump forces Venezuela to buy "ONLY American Made Products"
Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted on Wednesday, after meeting lawmakers on Capitol Hill who have been critical about the post-Maduro planning, that the us was "not just winging it."
But so far, the 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 US for it to then sell.
The 79-year-old claimed Wednesday that under the deal Venezuela "is going to be purchasing ONLY American Made Products, with the money they receive" from the oil profits they receive – including agricultural products, machinery, medical devices, and energy equipment.
Vice President JD Vance was even more blunt in his imperial thinking, telling Fox News: "The way that we control Venezuela is we control the purse strings, we control the energy resources. And we tell the regime, 'You're allowed to sell the oil so long as you serve America's national interests.'"
Rubio said that in a second "recovery" phase, US and other 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 said it was discussing oil sales with the US 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.
US tightens stranglehold on Venezuela
Trump will on Friday meet executives from US oil companies, whom he has said will invest in Venezuelan facilities crippled by years of sanctions, despite no firm having yet made such pledges amid the turmoil in the country.
"It's just a meeting to discuss, obviously, the immense opportunity that is before these oil companies right now," Leavitt told reporters.
The US moved further to stamp its domination of Venezuela when it seized two oil tankers, including a Russian-linked vessel in the North Atlantic.
Moscow condemned the operation but Leavitt insisted the oil tanker had been "deemed stateless after flying a false flag."
Cover photo: Collage: REUTERS & MANDEL NGAN / AFP

