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U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum met with Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez in Caracas as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to expand oil and mineral production in the South American country.
On Wednesday, the meeting culminated with Rodriguez’s announcement that he would submit a bill to reform Venezuela’s mining law to the country’s parliament within the next few days.
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Burgum also expressed optimism that economic ties between the United States and Venezuela will continue to grow.
“The opportunities for cooperation and synergy between our two great countries, Venezuela and the United States, are endless,” he said.
He added that he was accompanied on the two-day trip by representatives of nearly a dozen companies seeking access to Venezuela’s oil and minerals.
“They are eager to get started and eager to eliminate the red tape so their capital investment can flow,” Burgum said.
Claim Venezuela’s Resources
The expansion of economic ties between Venezuela and the United States began on January 3 with the military operation aimed at abducting and imprisoning former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
The military operation was criticized as a violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty. United Nations experts, for example, described the incident as a “grave and clear deliberate violation of the most fundamental principles of international law.”
But in the months since the military attack, the Trump administration has sought to give private companies greater access to Venezuela’s natural resources, some of which are nationalized.
Mr. Trump himself has argued that the United States has the right to obtain Venezuelan oil as a result of early oil exploration there. He called the Venezuelan nationalization drive “the greatest theft in American history.”
Venezuela not only has one of the world’s largest oil reserves, but also significant reserves of gold, copper, diamonds, coltan, and other minerals.
Burkum acknowledged in his remarks Wednesday that resources are plentiful.
“Venezuela is a rich country with both oil and gas resources, but it is also rich in important minerals,” he added.
Cooperation or exploitation?
But critics question whether the United States is exploiting Venezuela for its own economic interests.
For example, international law establishes that each state has permanent sovereignty over its “natural wealth and resources.” Violation of this principle amounts to a violation of the right to self-determination under the law.
Advocates also point out that the Rodriguez administration is being intimidated into acting at President Trump’s wishes.
For example, President Trump warned Rodriguez in a January interview with The Atlantic that if he doesn’t “do the right thing, he’s going to pay a very high price, probably even bigger than President Maduro.”
Already in late January, Rodriguez signed a reform bill to increase private investment in Venezuela’s state-run oil industry, fulfilling one of President Trump’s key demands.
The administration has also sold at least 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil to the Trump administration, with Trump himself controlling how the proceeds are distributed.
President Trump is a vocal supporter of fossil fuel use and has called climate change a “hoax” and a “fraud.”
He also praised Rodriguez’s cooperation and said her administration is a model for other governments, including Iran.
In a social media post Wednesday, President Trump reiterated his satisfaction with Rodriguez’s work thus far.
“Venezuela President Delcy Rodriguez is doing a great job and working very well with members of the United States House of Representatives,” Trump wrote.
“The oil is starting to flow and the professionalism and dedication between the two countries is very impressive.”
Meanwhile, the US diplomatic mission to Venezuela characterized Burgum’s two-day visit as a “pivotal and historic step” in a “three-phase plan” that will benefit both countries.
The report said the United States and Venezuela will “work together to secure the legitimate mining sector and critical mineral supply chains.”
Venezuela’s deteriorating economic situation has led to the development of an informal mining sector that lacks oversight and regulation. It can make working conditions dangerous. Just last October, a gold mine collapsed due to heavy rains, killing 14 people.
