Trump administration demands Venezuela cut ties with US adversaries to resume oil production
The flow of drilling mud is seen in a container while an oilfield worker works on a drilling rig at an oil well operated by Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA
(CNN) — The Trump administration has outlined a number of demands that Venezuela must agree to in order to resume oil production, two senior White House officials told CNN.
During conversations led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Trump administration told Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez that the country must cut ties with China, Iran, Russia and Cuba, and agree to partner exclusively with the US on oil production, the officials said.
Rodriguez must also agree to favor the Trump administration and US oil companies for future oil sales, they said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt would neither confirm nor deny the “alleged” demands.
ABC News first reported on the demands made to Rodriguez. It comes after the administration captured the country’s now-ousted President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend.
Sources familiar with the discussions said Trump officials believe Venezuela can only economically survive for another few weeks without relying on the sale of its oil reserves.
The demands come as the administration says it has reached a deal with the interim Venezuelan government to sell tens of millions of barrels of its oil that has already been extracted.
On Wednesday, Rubio said that the money from those sales would be controlled by the administration and “dispersed in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime.”
The demands also come as members of the Trump administration have told US lawmakers they have made clear to Venezuela that it must hold free and fair elections in the future, release political prisoners and get rid of the country’s drug gangs, according to source familiar with the administration’s briefing with key lawmakers this week.
However, Rubio told lawmakers earlier this week that the administration’s most pressing demands focus on Caracas kicking out foreign adversaries, cooperating on oil sales and being more cooperative on counter-narcotics work, the source said.
On Wednesday, the top US diplomat said the administration is planning three phases for Venezuela: stabilization, recovery, and transition.
Rubio made clear to lawmakers this week that the US has relayed the demands to the Rodriguez government. The officials also did not say whether Venezuela has agreed to them, though the administration remains confident that the massive military build up off the country’s coast serves as sufficient pressure on Rodriguez’s government, and that they have no choice but to acquiesce.
If Rodriguez cooperates, a senior White House official said the administration is open to reviewing its sanction policy against Caracas.
Trump has privately told allies and his top officials that he wants Iran, Russian and China out of the Western hemisphere, sources familiar with the conversations told CNN. Pressuring Venezuela to stop doing business with them is the first and most important step, they added.
While the administration is still working on plans to extract a large amount of oil from the country to export to the US, in addition to formulating a strategy on how to rebuild Venezuela’s energy infrastructure, the administration understands that their goals will take time and resources. Stopping Venezuela from handing over its oil to foreign adversaries is the more immediate goal.
Trump is also expected to meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday, according to a senior White House official.
Representatives from Chevron, the only US oil company currently active in Venezuela, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend, the official told CNN.
Other executives from US oil companies are also expected at the meeting.
The meeting comes after Trump posted on Tuesday that Venezuela’s interim government “will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America.”
“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,” he wrote.
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