Trump did not specify the dates of his visit, but he would be the first US president to visit the country since 1997.
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Donald Trump has said he plans to become the first sitting US president to visit Venezuela in nearly 30 years.
President Trump made the statement to reporters Friday as he departed the White House for Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina, where he met with soldiers involved in the U.S. abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3.
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President Trump said, “I’m going to visit Venezuela.” He provided few details about his planned visit, telling reporters that the date “has not yet been decided.”
Still, the trip will make Trump the first sitting U.S. president since Bill Clinton in 1997 to visit the South American country, which was subject to crippling sanctions during his first term from 2017 to 2021.
Earlier this week, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright became the first member of the Trump administration to visit Venezuela, meeting with the government led by President Maduro’s successor Delcy Rodriguez.
President Trump has repeatedly praised Rodriguez, Maduro’s former deputy, but downplayed the possibility that he would support opposition forces following Maduro’s abduction.
President Trump reiterated Friday: “They did a great job.” “Oil is coming out and a lot of money is being paid.”
Mr. Rodriguez has overseen several concessions to the United States, including freezing oil shipments to Cuba, supporting legislation to open the national oil industry to foreign companies, and releasing hundreds of political prisoners.
On Thursday, members of Venezuela’s parliament debated a bill that would grant amnesty to political prisoners, but by Friday it had not passed.
relaxation of sanctions
Also on Friday, the U.S. Treasury announced it would ease some sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector, the biggest reprieve since Maduro’s abduction.
The ministry issued two general licenses, including one allowing Chevron, BP, Eni, Shell and Repsol to conduct further oil and gas operations in Venezuela. The identified companies already have offices in the country and are one of the main partners of the national oil company PDVSA.
The second license allows foreign companies to enter into new oil and gas investment agreements with Venezuela’s PDVSA.
Any agreement is subject to specific approval from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and does not apply to entities owned by Russia, Iran, China, or nationals of those countries.
President Trump has said he wants $100 billion in foreign investment in Venezuela, and Energy Secretary Wright said earlier this week that Venezuelan oil sales since Maduro took over have reached $1 billion and will reach $5 billion within months.
Wright said the United States would manage the proceeds of the sale until a “representative government” is established in Venezuela.
United Nations experts have criticized US influence over the country’s natural resources as a violation of the people’s right to self-determination.
President Trump also took time to praise the Maduro abduction operation during his speech at Fort Bragg.
Legal experts say this is a grave violation of international law and Venezuela’s sovereignty, regardless of whether Washington considers Maduro the country’s duly elected leader after a disputed election in 2024.
“Everyone was running for the hills,” President Trump said of the Jan. 3 attack that killed more than 100 Cuban and Venezuelan security personnel. “That’s what we have. We have the strongest military the world has ever had.”
