Trump to visit Venezuela

US President Donald Trump has announced his visit to Venezuela. The US president made the announcement more than a month after the country's then-President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, were kidnapped in a military operation.

During an exchange of views with reporters at the White House, Trump said, "I am going to visit Venezuela. I have a very good relationship with the current President of Venezuela. Under his leadership, the United States is working closely with the country in terms of oil extraction and marketing. I give the current relationship between the United States and Venezuela a ten out of ten."

In response to a question about whether the United States would recognize the government led by Delcy Rodriguez, President Trump said, "Yes, of course, we have already done so. We are in regular contact with them and they are doing their job very well right now."

Venezuela is very rich in oil resources. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the US energy authority, Venezuela has at least 303 billion barrels of crude oil reserves. Venezuela has one-fifth of the world's proven oil reserves. The country also has several gold mines, which are also rich in gold.

However, the relationship between leftist President Maduro and conservative politician President Trump is very bad. When President Trump came to power in his first term in 2016, he imposed an embargo on Venezuelan oil. This embargo was also in force during the time of Trump's successor, Joe Biden.

On January 4, the US military abducted President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from their official residence in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, and brought them to New York City, the United States. Both of them have been charged with drug trafficking in the United States and preparations are underway for trial in a US court. Maduro and Celia are currently being held in a federal prison in New York City. After the kidnapping of Maduro and his wife, Trump announced that the United States would now oversee Venezuela's oil resources.

He also said that US companies would be given responsibility for managing the extraction and sale of Venezuelan oil. Recently, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States would control Venezuela's oil resources indefinitely.

Hours after President Maduro's wife was kidnapped, the Venezuelan Supreme Court ordered Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to take over as acting president.

Source: Reuters