U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Venezuela would provide between 30 million and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, pledging that proceeds from the sale would be used “to benefit the people” of both countries, as fallout from a dramatic US military operation continued to reverberate across the region.
AP reported today that Trump’s remarks came as the White House prepared to host a meeting on Friday with senior executives from major US oil companies to discuss Venezuela’s energy sector.
Representatives from Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend, as the administration presses for wider access for American investment and expertise in Venezuela’s vast but struggling oil industry.
The announcement unfolded against a backdrop of violence and political upheaval in Caracas.
Venezuelan officials said at least 24 security officers were killed during a US raid carried out overnight to capture President Nicolás Maduro and bring him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.
Venezuela’s attorney general, Tarek William Saab, later said “dozens” of officers and civilians were killed overall and described the operation as a “war crime,” adding that prosecutors would investigate the deaths.
Cuba’s government confirmed that 32 Cuban military and police officers stationed in Venezuela were also killed.
The Cuban personnel belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, according to Havana.
The Pentagon said seven US service members were injured in the operation, including from gunshot and shrapnel wounds, with five already returned to duty and two still recovering.
Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, responded sharply to Trump’s earlier warnings that she would face consequences worse than Maduro’s if she failed to realign the country with US interests, including opening its energy sector to American firms.
Speaking to agricultural and industrial officials, she said, “Personally, to those who threaten me: My destiny is not determined by them, but by God.”
Images released by Venezuela’s military showed portraits of fallen security officers over footage of soldiers, US aircraft over Caracas and destroyed armoured vehicles. In a message accompanying the video, the military wrote,
“Their spilled blood does not cry out for vengeance, but for justice and strength,” adding that it reaffirmed an oath “not to rest until we rescue our legitimate President, completely dismantle the terrorist groups operating from abroad, and ensure that events such as these never again sully our sovereign soil.”
After days of near-deserted streets, crowds briefly gathered in Caracas waving Venezuelan flags and dancing to patriotic music at a state-organised rally backing the government.
Trump’s oil remarks raised immediate questions about the future of Venezuela’s energy sector. With oil trading at about US$56 a barrel, the volume he cited could be worth up to US$2.8 billion.
The United States consumes about 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products daily, meaning the Venezuelan supply would amount to roughly two and a half days of US demand.
Despite having the world’s largest proven crude reserves, Venezuela currently produces around one million barrels a day, far below US output of nearly 14 million barrels a day.
Venezuela’s government did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Trump’s announcement.
Energy politics in the region remain fraught. ExxonMobil is developing a major offshore oil field off neighbouring Guyana, a discovery that reignited Venezuela’s long-running territorial dispute over the Essequibo region.
Venezuelan leaders, including Rodriguez, have accused Guyana and ExxonMobil of wrongdoing, and lawmakers previously considered banning operations by companies active in Guyana.
Trump, meanwhile, pushed back against Democratic criticism of the raid, noting that his predecessor Joe Biden had also called for Maduro’s arrest.
Speaking at a House Republican retreat, Trump complained that Democrats were withholding credit for what he described as a successful operation.
“You know, at some point, they should say, ‘You know, you did a great job. Thank you. Congratulations.’ Wouldn’t it be good?” he said.
Maduro, indicted in the United States in 2020 on narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking charges, pleaded not guilty in a US courtroom on Monday. US officials said he and his wife were captured early Saturday at a compound guarded by Cuban personnel.
The Trump administration doubled the reward for information leading to his arrest to US$50 million last August.
Public opinion in the United States remains divided. A Washington Post–SSRS poll conducted over the weekend found about four in 10 Americans approved of the military operation to capture Maduro, while a similar share opposed it and about two in 10 were unsure.
Nearly half opposed the US taking control of Venezuela or choosing its government, and about nine in 10 said Venezuelans should decide their own leadership.
The operation has also heightened international unease over US foreign policy. Trump has renewed calls for an American takeover of Greenland, threatened military action against Colombia over cocaine trafficking, and warned that Cuba’s communist government is “in a lot of trouble.”
Colombia’s foreign minister, Rosa Villavicencio, said she would lodge a formal complaint with the US embassy after Trump described Colombia’s president as a “sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.”
Villavicencio said Bogotá sought cooperation, not confrontation, adding, “It is necessary for the Trump administration to know in more detail about all that we are doing in the fight against drug trafficking.”
European leaders, including those of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom, joined Denmark in issuing a statement defending Greenland’s sovereignty.
“Greenland belongs to its people,” the statement said. “It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.” - January 7, 2025
.jpg)
