<img src="https://www.rawstory.com/media-library/u-s-secretary-of-energy-chris-wright-and-u-s-secretary-of-the-interior-doug-burgum-speak-with-members-of-the-media-outside-of.jpg?id=58413330&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C312%2C0%2C313"/><br/><br/><p>US Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Sunday denied that the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/tag/trump-administration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Trump administration</a> was stealing Venezuela’s <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/tag/oil" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">oil</a> just one hour after boasting that the country is being “forced to work” with the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/tag/united-states" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">United States</a>.</p><p>During a Sunday morning interview on ABC News, Wright was asked why he trusted interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, given that she was previously the vice president of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/nicolas-maduro" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">abducted</a> by the American military earlier this year and brought to the US to face narco-terrorism, drug trafficking, and weapons charges.</p><p>“We have a lot of leverage over <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/tag/venezuela" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Venezuela</a>,” Wright explained. “We control the sale of oil outside of their country. So right now, they are forced to work in partnership with us, and they are working in partnership with us.”</p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 560px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" data-tweet-id="2096594945935016302" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2096594945935016302&lang=en&maxWidth=560px&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2Fr%2Fentryeditor%2F2677825524%23advanced&sessionId=12ea76679e76aea402b65a847a2798dc432706b4&theme=light&widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 560px; height: 316px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post"></iframe></div><p><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js"></script></p><p>Shortly after, during an interview on Fox News, Wright grew indignant at the suggestion that the US was forcing Venezuela to give up its oil through threats of military force and other coercive measures.</p><p>“This is a home run!” Wright said of the Trump administration’s arrangements with the Venezuelan government. “These senators saying we’re stealing their oil at gunpoint, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the more oil that’s produced in Venezuela, including with the deal with the US government, the more royalties and tax revenues go to the Venezuelan government and the Venezuelan people.”</p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 560px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" data-tweet-id="2096610772876943794" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-2" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-2&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2096610772876943794&lang=en&maxWidth=560px&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2Fr%2Fentryeditor%2F2677825524%23advanced&sessionId=12ea76679e76aea402b65a847a2798dc432706b4&theme=light&widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 560px; height: 421px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post"></iframe></div><p><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js"></script></p><p>Venezuelan opposition leader MarÃa Corina Machado, who was <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/maria-corina-machado-trump" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">supportive</a> of the US abducting Maduro, last week criticized the Trump administration for cutting a deal with what she said was still a corrupt and oppressive government in Caracas.</p><p>“The wealth of our land does not belong to an illegitimate regime,” Machado <a href="https://x.com/MariaCorinaYA/status/2095511652435161139" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said</a> in a video posted on <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/tag/social-media" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">social media</a>, “it belongs to the Venezuelan people.”</p><p>In an analysis published last week, economist Paul Krugman <a href="https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-plot-to-steal-venezuelas-oil" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">accused</a> the Trump administration of concocting a “plot to steal Venezuela’s oil,” which he described as equal parts “vile and deeply stupid.”</p><p>The deal is vile, Krugman said, because it validates "everything the Latin American left has ever said about US <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/tag/imperialism" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">imperialism</a>” in the region.</p><p>And it is simultaneously stupid, he argued, because the investments required to improve Venezuela’s oil <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/tag/infrastructure" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">infrastructure</a> will be so great that its benefits are unlikely to materialize in the near future, if at all.</p><p>“Venezuelan oil currently sells for around $70 a barrel on world markets,” Krugman wrote. “But as I said, getting that oil out will require huge investments in infrastructure. Nor does Venezuela oil come gushing out when you drill a well: As <a href="https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/too-dirty-too-late-why-the-economics-of-venezuelas-oil-dont-pencil-out/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">one expert</a> put it, ‘it comes out of the ground with the consistency of cold peanut butter.’”</p> via Raw Story https://ift.tt/fa2SPZ4
