WASHINGTON — The United States government will soon allow Venezuela to begin selling oil that is still under sanctions, and those revenues will initially be dedicated to covering the costs of basic government services such as police and health care and will be subject to oversight from Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday.
The United States will retain short-term control of the funds to ensure they are used to stabilize Venezuela, Rubio said in a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“Those funds will be deposited into an account that will be under our supervision,” Rubio stated, adding that the US Treasury Department would control the process. Venezuela, he noted, “will spend that money for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.”
Rubio offered a new perspective on how the United States plans to handle the sale of tens of millions of barrels of oil from Venezuela — which has the largest crude reserves anywhere — and monitor where the money flows. Following its operation to capture then-President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month, the United States has been working to influence the South American nation’s next steps through its vast oil resources.
The United States will not subsidize investments in Venezuela’s oil industry, Rubio assured, and will only supervise the sale of sanctioned oil as an “interim step.”
“This is simply a way to divide the income so that there is no systemic collapse as we work through this recovery and transition,” Rubio explained.
Democrats and some Republicans on the panel pressed Rubio for more details about President Donald Trump‘s plans for Venezuelan oil. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy asked Rubio for assurances that the sale of Venezuelan oil is fair and open, not manipulated to benefit oil companies allied with Trump.
“They’re taking your oil at gunpoint, they’re keeping and selling that oil…they’re deciding how and what that money is going to be used for in a country of 30 million people,” Murphy said. “I think a lot of us believe that that is doomed to fail.”
During the Maduro government, Rubio explained, Venezuela’s oil industry benefited corrupt leaders and countries like China, which bought Venezuelan oil at a discount. Now, Venezuela’s interim government is helping the United States seize illegal oil shipments, he noted.
The United States will provide instructions to Venezuela’s current government on how the money can and cannot be spent and will conduct audits to ensure it is used as intended, Rubio said. He added that Venezuela could use the funds to cover police costs or buy medicine.
The fund was initially established in Qatar to prevent proceeds from being seized by U.S. creditors and because of other legal complications arising from the fact that the United States does not consider Maduro’s government legitimate, Rubio explained.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have already been set aside and up to an additional $3 billion is anticipated to be added, he said.
“It is an account that belongs to Venezuela, but has United States sanctions as a blocking mechanism,” Rubio said. “We only control the dispersion of money, we do not control money as such.”
Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, said a few weeks ago that money from oil sales would go toward two sovereign funds: one to support health services and another to strengthen public infrastructure, including the electrical grid.
The country’s hospitals are so poorly equipped that patients are asked to provide the supplies needed for their care, from syringes to surgical screws. They must also pay for laboratory and imaging tests in private hospitals.
During a televised event to announce the renovation of several health care facilities, Rodríguez said Tuesday that his government and the White House have established respectful communication channels since Maduro’s capture.
Neither Rodríguez nor his government’s press office commented on Rubio’s statements on Wednesday.
At Rodríguez’s request, Venezuelan lawmakers last week began debating a reform of the country’s energy law. The proposed changes are aimed at creating conditions to attract private foreign investment.