The President of the United States, Donald Trump, signed a decree this Saturday (10) to protect, in American Treasury accounts, the resources obtained from the sale of oil from Venezuela. The measure seeks to prevent creditors of Venezuela’s external debt from having access to these amounts.
In a statement, the White House reported that “President Trump is preventing the confiscation of Venezuelan oil revenues that could compromise essential efforts by the United States to ensure political and economic stability in Venezuela.”
According to information from the EFE Agency, the decree determines the blocking of any type of embargo, judicial decision, order, right of retention, execution or other legal procedure against resources from the sale of Venezuelan oil held in US government accounts. The rule also prohibits the transfer or negotiation of these amounts.
Trump’s decree seeks to prevent creditor actions and guarantee control of resources
Trump announced the decision after a meeting held on Friday with oil industry executives. At the meeting, the president offered the main global hydrocarbon companies guarantees of “government protection and security” in the long term. The objective is to facilitate investments of US$100 billion in Venezuela.
The decree also reinforces a statement made on Wednesday by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who stated that the United States will “indefinitely” control sales of Venezuelan crude oil. According to him, the American government will deposit the resources obtained from these operations into its accounts to “benefit the people of Venezuela”.
According to the White House, the order establishes that these funds are considered Venezuela’s sovereign property, held in the custody of the United States for governmental and diplomatic purposes, and cannot be the target of private claims.
The American government also argues that releasing these resources for embargoes would put US strategic objectives at risk. Among them, containing the flow of illegal immigrants and narcotics trafficking, highlighted as central justifications for Washington’s actions in Venezuela.
Since the expropriation of the oil sector promoted by then president Hugo Chávez, Venezuela has faced around 60 international arbitration processes. The Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), at Columbia University, estimates that the value involved in these disputes is US$30 billion. The value is equivalent to almost 15% of the country’s external debt.
At Friday’s meeting, oil industry executives expressed distrust to Trump regarding new investments in Venezuela. They would have cited regulatory insecurity and expropriations carried out during the Chavista governments.
