According to the White House statement, Trump is “preventing the seizure of Venezuelan oil revenues” by creditors who claim those funds.
US President Donald Trump decreed this Saturday, January 10, a “national emergency” to protect income from Venezuelan oil sales in US Treasury accounts, which would prevent creditors of the Venezuelan foreign debt from claiming the funds.
The White House stated in a statement that “President Trump is preventing the seizure of Venezuelan oil revenues that could undermine critical US efforts to ensure Venezuela’s political and economic stability.”
The order “blocks any embargo, judgment, decree, right of lien, execution, or any other judicial process against” funds that are in United States Government accounts derived from sales of Venezuelan oil, and “prohibits transfers or dealings” of these resources.
The decree is published after this Friday’s meeting between oil executives and Trump, who offered the world’s main hydrocarbon companies “long-term government protection and security” to achieve their goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela.
*Also read: Trump indicates that oil companies will invest 100 billion dollars in the country
The measure also reaffirms the announcement of the Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, who on Wednesday warned that the United States will control “indefinitely” the sales of Venezuelan crude oil and will deposit the money derived from these transactions in US Government accounts to “benefit the people of Venezuela.”
“The order affirms that the funds are the sovereign property of Venezuela held in US custody for governmental and diplomatic purposes, which are not subject to private claims,” the White House said.
Washington argued to the extent that “allowing the embargo of these funds would directly put at risk the objectives of the United States, which include stopping the influx of illegal immigrants and illicit narcotics,” which it identifies as the main justifications for its intervention in Venezuela.
Following the oil expropriation carried out by the late Venezuelan ruler Hugo Chávez, there have been nearly 60 arbitrations since 2000 against Venezuela for a total estimated value of $30 billion, almost 15% of its international debt, according to data from the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), at Columbia University.
Oil executives expressed to Trump this Friday their skepticism about investing in Venezuela, citing regulatory uncertainty and expropriations carried out by Chavismo.
With information from the EFE agency
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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