The White House sets demands for Venezuela to pump more oil.
The Trump administration has told Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez that the regime must meet the White House’s demands before being allowed to pump more oil, according to three people familiar with the administration’s plan.
First, the country must kick out China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba and sever economic ties, the sources said. Second, Venezuela must agree to partner exclusively with the U.S. on oil production and favor America when selling heavy crude oil, they added.
According to one person, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers in a private briefing on Monday that he believes the U.S. can force Venezuela’s hand because its existing oil tankers are full. Rubio also told lawmakers that the U.S. estimates that Caracas has only a couple of weeks before it will become financially insolvent without the sale of its oil reserves.
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In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker confirmed that the U.S. plan hinges upon controlling Venezuela’s oil. He said he did not believe it will require the deployment of U.S. troops.
“The government does intend to control the oil, taking charge of the ships, the tankers, and none of them are going to go to Havana,” Wicker said. “And until they start moving — we hope to the open market — there are no more tankers to fill, because they’re totally full.”
The White House did not dispute the reporting.
“The President is speaking about exerting maximum leverage with the remaining elements in Venezuela and ensuring they cooperate with the United States by halting illegal migration, stopping drug flows, revitalizing oil infrastructure, and doing what is right for the Venezuelan people,” according to a senior administration official.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wicker told ABC News that Venezuela doesn’t have any more tankers available to move additional oil.
“The information I have is that Venezuela cannot pump anymore crude oil because there’s no place to put it and there’s no place to send it. The tankers are full and waiting to move to an appropriate place, hopefully to be sold with open market other than to be [given] free to China,” Wicker said.
Trump posted Tuesday evening that the “interim authorities” in Venezuela would turn over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S. to be sold at market price. Trump said those funds would be controlled by him “to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!”
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Wicker said the administration’s plan does not appear to involve U.S. troops.
“This is not a matter of boots on the ground … That is just not part of the plan,” he added.
Last month, Trump wrote in an online post that he had ordered a “TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela.”
When asked by reporters the following day what that meant, Trump said, “it’s just a blockade. Not going to let anybody going through that shouldn’t be going through.”
ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.