Trump: The United States will obtain 30 to 50 million barrels of oil from Venezuela at market price

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Venezuela will provide 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, and pledged to use proceeds from the sale of that oil to “benefit the people” of both countries.

The White House is organizing a meeting on Friday with U.S. oil company executives to discuss Venezuela, which the Trump administration is pressing to open its massive but struggling oil industry more broadly to American investment and know-how. Representatives of Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend the White House meeting, according to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss the plans.

Read more: The United States seizes two oil tankers subject to sanctions linked to Venezuela in the North Atlantic and Caribbean

Earlier Tuesday, officials in Caracas announced that at least 24 Venezuelan security officers were killed in the midnight US military operation to arrest Nicolas Maduro and take him to the United States to face drug charges. The country’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, took issue with Trump, who warned earlier this week that she would face a worse outcome than Maduro if she did not “do what’s right” and turn Venezuela into a country consistent with American interests, including by granting access to American energy companies.

“Personally, to those who threaten me: My fate is not determined by them, but by God,” Rodriguez said in a speech on Tuesday before government agricultural and industrial sector officials.

Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said “dozens” of officers and civilians were killed in a weekend raid in Caracas, and said prosecutors would investigate the deaths in what he described as a “war crime.” He did not specify whether the estimate specifically referred to Venezuelans.

Read more: Fact-checking Trump’s claims after the US strike on Venezuela and the arrest of Maduro

In addition to Venezuelan security officials, the Cuban government previously confirmed that 32 Cuban military and police officers serving in Venezuela were killed in the raid. The Cuban government says the individuals killed belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, the country’s two main security agencies.

Seven American soldiers were also injured in the raid, according to the Pentagon. Five of them have already returned to duty, while two are still recovering from their injuries. The injuries included gunshot wounds and shrapnel injuries, according to a US official who was not authorized to comment on the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A video tribute to the slain Venezuelan security officials, posted on the military’s Instagram account, shows the faces of the dead in black-and-white videos of US soldiers and planes flying over Caracas and armored vehicles destroyed by explosions. Meanwhile, the streets of Caracas, which had been deserted for days after Maduro’s arrest, were briefly filled with crowds of people waving Venezuelan flags and dancing to patriotic music in a state-organized show of support for the government.

“Their shed blood does not call for revenge, but for justice and strength,” the army wrote in a post on Instagram. “It reaffirms our firm oath not to rest until we rescue our legitimate president, completely dismantle terrorist groups operating from abroad, and ensure that such events never stain our sovereign territory again,” he added.

Questions about the future of Venezuelan oil

With oil trading at roughly $56 a barrel, the deal Trump announced late Tuesday could be worth as much as $2.8 billion. The United States needs an average of 20 million barrels per day of oil and related products, so Venezuela’s transfer would be equivalent to up to two and a half days of supplies, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Although Venezuela has the world’s largest proven reserves of crude oil, it only produces on average about 1 million barrels per day, well below the United States’ average daily production of 13.9 million barrels per day during October.

The Venezuelan government press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s announcement.

ExxonMobil is developing a huge offshore oil deposit in the waters off Guyana, Venezuela’s neighbor to the east. The company’s major oil discovery in 2015 prompted Venezuela to revive a century-old territorial dispute with Guyana and take steps to annex the remote region known as Essequibo, which includes about two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.

This development has also led to widespread accusations from the Venezuelan government, including Rodriguez, against Guyana’s leaders and ExxonMobil. Two years ago, Venezuelan lawmakers considered banning any future operation in Venezuela of oil companies operating in Guyana.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump responded to Democrats’ criticism of this weekend’s military operation, noting that his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden also called for the Venezuelan leader’s arrest on drug trafficking charges.

Trump complained in his statements before a meeting of House Republicans in Washington that Democrats do not give him credit for a successful military operation, despite there being bipartisan agreement that Maduro is not the legitimate president of Venezuela.

In 2020, Maduro was indicted in the United States, accused of his involvement in narco-terrorism and international cocaine trafficking conspiracy over decades. White House officials indicated that the Biden administration, in his final days in office last year, raised the reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro after he assumed a third term, despite evidence indicating that he lost the recent elections in Venezuela. The Trump administration doubled the award to $50 million in August.

“You know, at some point, they have to say, ‘You did a great job. Thank you. Congratulations.” Wouldn’t it be good? Trump said. “I would say that if they did a good job, their philosophies would be completely different. But if they did a good job, I would be happy for the country. They’ve been going after this guy for years and years and years.”

What US opinion polls show

Americans are divided on Maduro’s capture — with many still forming opinions — according to a Washington Post-SSRS poll conducted using text messages over the weekend. About 4 in 10 approved of sending the US military to arrest Maduro, while about the same percentage opposed. About 2 in 10 were unsure.

Nearly half of Americans, 45%, opposed US control of Venezuela and the selection of a new government for the country. About 9 in 10 Americans said the Venezuelan people should be the ones to decide their country’s future leadership.

Maduro pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges in a US court on Monday. US forces arrested Maduro and his wife early Saturday in a raid on an apartment complex where they were surrounded by Cuban guards.

In the days since Maduro’s ouster, Trump and senior administration officials have raised concern around the world that the operation could mark the beginning of a more expansive American foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere. The president has in recent days renewed calls for the United States to seize Danish territory in Greenland for American security interests and threatened military action against Colombia for facilitating the global sale of cocaine, while his top diplomat declared that Cuba’s communist government “has a lot of problems.”

Colombia responds to Trump

Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio said on Tuesday that she will meet with the Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Bogota to file a formal complaint with him about recent threats made by the United States.

Trump said on Sunday that he did not rule out launching an attack on Colombia and described its president, who has been an outspoken critic of the US pressure campaign on Venezuela, as “a sick man who likes to make cocaine and sell it to the United States.”

Villavicencio said she hopes to strengthen relations with the United States and improve cooperation in combating drug trafficking.

“It is imperative that the Trump administration knows in more detail everything we are doing in the fight against drug trafficking,” she said.

Meanwhile, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom on Tuesday joined Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in defending Greenland’s sovereignty. The island is an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark and therefore part of the NATO military alliance.

“Greenland belongs to its people,” the statement said. “It is up to Denmark and Greenland, and only them, to decide on matters relating to Denmark and Greenland.”

Madani reported from Washington and Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writers Josh Bock, Konstantin Torobin, Sagar Megani, Isabel Debre, Lynley Sanders and Manuel Rueda contributed reporting.