Venezuela’s president pledges mining reform amid visit by US cabinet members | Donald Trump news

United States Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has met with Venezuela’s interim president, Delsey Rodriguez, in Caracas, as part of US President Donald Trump’s push to increase oil and mineral production in the South American country.

On Wednesday, the meeting concluded with the announcement that Rodríguez will submit a proposal to reform Venezuela’s mining laws to the country’s legislature in the coming days.

Bergum expressed optimism that economic ties between the US and Venezuela will continue to tighten.

“The opportunities for collaboration and synergy between our two great countries, Venezuela and the United States, are limitless,” he said.

He said he was accompanied on his two-day trip by representatives of about a dozen companies seeking access to Venezuela’s oil and minerals.

“They’re eager to get started and they’re eager to cut through the red tape to keep the capital investment flowing,” Bergum said.

Claiming Venezuela’s Resources

Growing economic ties between Venezuela and the US come in the wake of a military operation to kidnap and imprison former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on January 3.

The military operation was criticized as a violation of Venezuelan sovereignty. For example, United Nations experts described the incident as a “serious, flagrant and deliberate violation of the most fundamental principles of international law”.

But in the months since the military offensive, the Trump administration has sought to give private enterprises greater access to Venezuela’s natural resources, some of which have been nationalized.

Trump himself has claimed that the US has a claim to Venezuelan oil as a result of early petroleum exploration in the country. He called the nationalization of Venezuela “the greatest theft in American history.”

Venezuela has some of the largest oil reserves in the world but also substantial reserves of gold, copper, diamonds, coltan and other minerals.

Burgum acknowledged the wealth of resources in his statement on Wednesday.

“Venezuela is a rich, wealthy country full of oil and gas resources, but rich in critical minerals,” he said.

Collaboration or exploitation?

But critics have questioned whether the US is exploiting Venezuela for its own economic gain.

International law, for example, establishes that every country has permanent sovereignty over its “natural wealth and resources.” Violation of that principle violates the right to self-determination, under the law.

Lawyers point out that the Rodriguez administration faces threats to act on Trump’s wishes.

In an interview with The Atlantic magazine in January, for example, Trump warned that if Rodriguez “doesn’t do the right thing, she’s going to pay a very big price, maybe even bigger than Maduro.”

Already, in late January, Rodríguez signed into law a reform that expands private investment in Venezuela’s state-controlled oil industry, fulfilling one of Trump’s primary demands.

His government has transferred at least 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil for sale to the Trump administration, with Trump himself controlling how the proceeds are distributed.

Trump has been a vocal proponent of fossil fuel use, calling climate change a “hoax” and a “scam.”

He praised Rodriguez for his cooperation, citing his administration as a model for other governments, including Iran.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump reiterated his satisfaction with Rodriguez’s job performance thus far.

“Venezuela’s president, Delsey Rodriguez, is doing a great job and working well with the US delegation,” Trump wrote.

“The oil has started to flow, and the professionalism and dedication between the two countries is a great thing to see.”

The US diplomatic mission in Venezuela, meanwhile, characterized Bergum’s two-day visit as an “important and historic step” in a “three-phase plan” to benefit both countries.

It noted that the US and Venezuela will “work for a legitimate mining sector and secure critical mineral supply chains”.

Due to poor economic conditions in Venezuela, an informal mining sector has developed, lacking oversight and regulation. That can make working conditions treacherous. Last October, 14 people were killed when a gold mine collapsed due to heavy rains.