As Donald Trump had previously stated, one of the central objectives of the recent military operation in Venezuela was to put the country's oil sector under US control and give US oil companies the ability to rebuild it. This Tuesday, he announced the first step.

Trump announced that the Venezuelan government, now led by President in The president, Delcy Rodriguez, is prepared to deliver 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to be sold on the U.S. market. In a publication by Truth Social, the president described the millions of barrels as “high-quality oil, authorized in the United States.” Trump added that he will be in charge of controlling the money from the sale of the oil on the local market “to ensure that it is used for the benefit of the Venezuelan people and the United States.” According to the Republican, the Department of Energy, led by Secretary Chris Wright, will be in charge of immediately executing the oil extraction plan. The 30 to 50 million barrels will be transported on storage vessels directly to U.S. unloading docks, Trump concluded. The president's announcement comes 24 hours after Delcy Rodriguez, vice president of ousted President Nicolas Maduro, assumed power in Venezuela on an interim basis. Under the backing of the United States, which had already indicated that this administration was prepared to accede to all its demands. Various experts have pointed out that Venezuela possesses the world's largest crude oil reserves, but that its production is far below its potential due to years of sanctions and a lack of investment. According to estimates, Venezuela possesses at least 303 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, surpassing Saudi Arabia and representing almost 20% of global reserves.

Therefore, dozens of international analysts agree that behind Trump's actions lies not so much the fight against drug trafficking, as he had claimed for months, but rather the United States' control of oil reserves.

For many years, the Latin American country was known as "the Saudi Arabia of Venezuela" due to the large amount of crude oil within its territory, which attracted major oil companies, including several US giants that began to invest.

However, the oil boom in Venezuela for the United States ended after the arrival of Hugo Chavez, who, during his administration, initiated a period of expropriations that reduced US business to a minimum, and Trump would seek to reverse this situation.