The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has questioned Donald Trump’s oil deal with Venezuela’s interim government, saying the country’s natural resources do not belong to “an illegitimate regime”.
asserted
resources → question → regime
In her first public comments since Trump announced what he called “the biggest oil deal in world history” with Venezuela last Friday, Machado walked a diplomatic tightrope between challenging the agreement and trying not to rile the White House.
asserted
Machado → announce → House
In a video posted on social media, the Nobel peace prize winner said: “Of course the United States is the principal partner Venezuela needs to fully develop its strategic potential.
asserted
Venezuela → post → potential
This is what the majority of Venezuelans believe … and it is something I’ve spent my whole life defending.”
asserted
I → believe → life
However, Machado said, the current occupants of the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas were “enemies of the US”, saying they did not have the right or the democratic mandate to negotiate Venezuela’s natural resources.
asserted
they → say → resources
“The wealth of our subsoil does not belong to an illegitimate regime – it belongs to the Venezuelan people,” she said, adding that supporters felt “sadness and anger” at being excluded from the decision-making process.
asserted
supporters → belong → process
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves with an estimated 303bn barrels, of which more than 65bn barrels are involved in the agreement.
asserted
barrels → have → agreement
Trump’s deal was struck with the un-elected interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, who took power in January after her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, was abducted by US special forces.
asserted
predecessor → strike → forces
Many observers expected Trump to replace Maduro with Machado, a conservative democracy activist who later gave the US president her Nobel prize award.
asserted
who → expect → award
But instead Trump backed Rodríguez, threatening: “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price – probably bigger than Maduro”, and sidelined Machado.
asserted
she → back → Machado
The White House claims the oil deal will help secure US “energy dominance for the next century” as well as “purging foreign malign influence from our back yard” by excluding China and Russia.
uncertain
deal → claim → China
Speaking outside the Miraflores palace on Wednesday, the US energy secretary, Chris Wright, said the aim was “to massively grow production and economic opportunities in Venezuela”, adding: “President Trump has a clear mission in Venezuela.
asserted
Trump → speak → Venezuela
The mission is to bring peace, freedom, opportunity, and prosperity to everyone in Venezuela.
asserted
mission → bring → Venezuela
But there has been widespread condemnation of what critics call a predatory and colonial-style land grab.
asserted
critics → call → what
Machado’s supporters fear the deal makes Washington far less inclined to push for fresh presidential elections.
asserted
Washington → fear → elections
Machado’s movement is widely believed to have beaten Maduro by a landslide in the last such vote, in 2024, but he refused to accept the result and clung to power until his dramatic rendition on 3 January this year.
asserted
he → believe → January
On Wednesday, Trump and Rodríguez brushed off questions about when an election might be held.
uncertain
election → brush → questions
“You had a very powerful, very nasty dictatorship in Venezuela – and they’re just not going to be ready for it yet,” Trump told reporters, before adding vaguely: “But soon.”
asserted
Trump → have → reporters
Rodríguez said: “There will be an electoral process, but when Venezuela is ready.
asserted
Venezuela → say → ?
“I don’t set dates,” she added.
asserted
she → set → dates
The Aporia
