US seeks to redirect oil revenue
WASHINGTON/CARACAS: The United States is seeking to ensure Venezuelan oil revenue goes to opposition leader and selfdeclared interim president Juan Guaido, and to cut off money from isolated President Nicolas Maduro, a top US official said yesterday.
Although short on details, the announcement signals that Washington is willing to go beyond traditional diplomatic measures and will seek to drain cash from Maduro’s government, which is already struggling under an unprecedented economic meltdown.
Such a move would significantly strengthen the hand of Guaido, who swore himself in as interim head of state on Thursday with the support of Washington and nations around the region.
‘‘What we’re focusing on today is disconnecting the illegitimate Maduro regime from the sources of his revenues,’’ national security adviser John Bolton told reporters at the White House.
‘‘We think, consistent with our recognition of Juan Guaido as the constitutional interim president of Venezuela, that those revenues should go to the legitimate government.’’
Bolton added that the process was ‘‘very complicated’’ and that officials were still studying how this would function. Venezuela’s information ministry did not reply to a request for comment.
Guaido, in an interview with broadcaster Univision, said he believed this was ‘‘the beginning of the end’’ for Maduro and he would work to guarantee humanitarian aid and implement new economic measures to ratchet up pressure.
‘‘Our challenge is to secure free elections, and we want them as soon as possible. But we are living in a dictatorship,’’ he said, from an undisclosed location.
Washington’s support for Guaido prompted Maduro, Venezuela’s leader since 2013, to break relations with the United States. On Thursday, he said he was closing Venezuela’s embassy in Washington and its consulates in the United States.
Guaido’s swearingin was the opposition’s boldest challenge yet to the longruling Socialist Party and has given Maduro’s adversaries an unprecedented diplomatic platform to press for change in a nation dogged by hyperinflation, rising malnutrition and political conflict.
But Guaido now leads what amounts to a shadow government disavowed by the armed forces and with no influence over daytoday administration, such as importing and distributing food and medicine.
The 35yearold industrial engineer said he had spoken yesterday by telephone with supportive heads of state from around the world.
In the Univision interview, Guaido repeated his proposal of future amnesties to officials and military members who disavowed Maduro, even saying the offer could be extended to government ministers and to Maduro himself if they willingly left power.
Guaido’s ascent was greeted with excitement by investors holding Venezuela and state oil company PDVSA bonds, which hit their highest level since 2017 despite being almost entirely in default.
Concerns about potential disruption of Venezuelan crude supplies gave support to global oil prices.
Oil revenues are crucial to the already crumbling Venezuelan economy and routing that money away from Maduro as the United State seeks to do would be a serious blow.
The US State Department yesterday ordered some US government workers to leave Venezuela and said US citizens should consider leaving the country.
A total of 14 people have been killed in violence linked to this week’s protests, according to local rights groups. — Reuters