Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez defends ‘endless’ benefits of her oil deal with Trump

Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, has defended her country's controversial energy deal with the United States, insisting that the South American nation will maintain ownership and sovereignty over its vast oil reserves. The deal, which reportedly involves Washington taking control of 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves, was announced by President Donald Trump on Friday.

Rodríguez, who took power in January following the abduction of former President Nicolás Maduro, defended the agreement during a six-minute television broadcast, claiming that the deal would help her resource-rich country develop its economy and become an energy powerhouse. She emphasized that the deal would involve 17 strategic oilfields where it was hoped more than 1.5 million barrels could be produced each day.

However, the deal has sparked outrage both among Venezuela's opposition and within the Chavismo political movement of which Rodríguez is a part. Critics argue that the agreement represents a massive land grab by a "rapacious, mafioso United States" and a "neocolonial" transaction that hands over 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan reserves to the United States.