Trump signs the executive order. Billions of Venezuelan oil under US control

US President Donald Trump signed an order on Friday to “secure” revenues from Venezuelan oil on the accounts of the Ministry of Finance, the White House said. This is intended to ensure American control over the money.

As the White House wrote in a statement, the decree means that funds from the sale of Venezuelan crude oil placed in US accounts cannot be the subject of claims by other persons, entities and states. These funds may not be transferred without the express consent of the U.S. Government.

“The regulation confirms that the funds are sovereign property of Venezuela and are held by the United States for governmental and diplomatic purposes,” the statement said.

The regulation states that this step is necessary to pursue the US national interest, including stopping migration (from Venezuela) and taking action against Iran and Hezbollah, with which the Nicolas Maduro regime cooperated.

The regulation is part of the US agreement with the regime in Caracas, under which crude oil from Venezuela is to be sold by the US on world markets. According to President Trump's announcement, the money in this respect is to be spent to the benefit of both Venezuela and the USA. Venezuela is also to spend these funds only on purchasing goods from the United States.

The first tranche of the raw material includes 50 million barrels of oil worth approximately USD 3 billion. Trump, however, announced that this process would continue “indefinitely.”

According to the Trump administration's vision, taking control of Venezuelan oil is to be one of the means of putting pressure on the authorities in Caracas to implement the will of the US.

From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

osk/ kar/