Trump seeks to reclaim oil, land, other assets from Venezuela
“They took our oil rights. We had a lot of oil there,” Trump told journalists. “They threw our companies out, and we want it back.” He added that past administrations’ “weakness” enabled Venezuela to take control of assets once held by US firms. “They took it away because we had a president that maybe wasn’t watching,” he said. “But they’re not going to do that. We want it back.”
Venezuela nationalized its oil sector in 1976 through the creation of state-owned PDVSA, ending direct foreign ownership while still allowing foreign companies to operate under service agreements. Under President Hugo Chavez in 2007, the government took majority control of major oil projects, prompting Western companies like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips to leave and pursue arbitration claims.
The tensions coincide with an expanded US military presence in the Caribbean. Since September, US forces have targeted vessels allegedly involved in drug trafficking, killing over 90 people, and Trump has threatened operations against Venezuelan territory, accusing Caracas of harboring “narcoterrorists,” claims denied by the Venezuelan government.
On Tuesday, Trump declared “a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into, and out of, Venezuela… until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the oil, land, and other assets that they previously stole from us.”
Caracas condemned the blockade as illegal and contrary to international law, free trade, and navigation rights. Vice President Delcy Rodríguez rejected Trump’s claims, stating, “Venezuela will never again be a colony of an empire or any foreign power.”
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