The Venezuelan opposition leader MarÃa Corina Machado has questioned Donald Trumpâs oil deal with Venezuelaâs interim government, saying the countryâs natural resources do not belong to âan illegitimate regimeâ.
In her first public comments since Trump announced what he called âthe biggest oil deal in world historyâ with Venezuela last Friday, Machado walked a diplomatic tightrope between challenging the agreement and trying not to rile the White House.
In a video posted on social media, the Nobel peace prize winner said: âOf course the United States is the principal partner Venezuela needs to fully develop its strategic potential. This is what the majority of Venezuelans believe ⦠and it is something Iâve spent my whole life defending.â
However, Machado said, the current occupants of the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas were âenemies of the USâ, saying they did not have the right or the democratic mandate to negotiate Venezuelaâs natural resources. âThe wealth of our subsoil does not belong to an illegitimate regime â it belongs to the Venezuelan people,â she said, adding that supporters felt âsadness and angerâ at being excluded from the decision-making process.
Venezuela has the worldâs largest proven crude oil reserves with an estimated 303bn barrels, of which more than 65bn barrels are involved in the agreement.
Trumpâs deal was struck with the un-elected interim president, Delcy RodrÃguez, who took power in January after her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, was abducted by US special forces.
Many observers expected Trump to replace Maduro with Machado, a conservative democracy activist who later gave the US president her Nobel prize award. But instead Trump backed RodrÃguez, threatening: âIf she doesnât do whatâs right, she is going to pay a very big price â probably bigger than Maduroâ, and sidelined Machado.
The White House claims the oil deal will help secure US âenergy dominance for the next centuryâ as well as âpurging foreign malign influence from our back yardâ by excluding China and Russia.
Speaking outside the Miraflores palace on Wednesday, the US energy secretary, Chris Wright, said the aim was âto massively grow production and economic opportunities in Venezuelaâ, adding: âPresident Trump has a clear mission in Venezuela. The mission is to bring peace, freedom, opportunity, and prosperity to everyone in Venezuela.â
But there has been widespread condemnation of what critics call a predatory and colonial-style land grab. Machadoâs supporters fear the deal makes Washington far less inclined to push for fresh presidential elections.
Machadoâs 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.
On Wednesday, Trump and RodrÃguez brushed off questions about when an election might be held. âYou had a very powerful, very nasty dictatorship in Venezuela â and theyâre just not going to be ready for it yet,â Trump told reporters, before adding vaguely: âBut soon.â
RodrÃguez said: âThere will be an electoral process, but when Venezuela is ready.
âI donât set dates,â she added.
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