Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)— Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez asserted that Venezuela controls the revenues generated by its oil sales, after a journalist asked how those funds are being administered. He said that the Venezuelan government decides how to use the money, in accordance with the Constitution, and dismissed claims that foreign entities control the proceeds.

On Wednesday, October 21, Rodríguez said that Venezuela’s energy partnerships constitute a broad network of cooperation, and that the country has signed 71 strategic agreements with international companies for oil exploration, extraction, and commercialization. He added that negotiations were under way to finalize another 44 operational agreements in the hydrocarbons sector, and maintained that the agreements follow Venezuela’s Constitution and respect its economic sovereignty.

He stressed that the oil contracts provide for national capital participation and protections for Venezuelan workers. The government’s goal, he said, is to turn oil reserves into social welfare and domestic productive investment. Rodríguez also said that cooperation with the US in this regard was important, calling the oil agreement “the most important” signed in the past 100 years and adding that it benefits both governments and peoples.

Rodríguez dismissed claims of political conditions or foreign control over revenue from Venezuela’s commercial operations abroad. He condemned pressure and unilateral coercive measures against the country’s financial system, saying that Venezuela had developed alternative mechanisms to receive oil payments directly.

He further added that the funds enter Venezuela’s treasury through authorized national banking institutions, without any external trust or third-party management of the accounts, and called autonomy in foreign-exchange management essential to the country’s macroeconomic stability.

On January 28, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the US Senate that the first $500 million in oil-sale proceeds had been placed in a Qatar account, with $300 million disbursed and $200 million remaining there. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez separately announced that $300 million from oil sales had entered Venezuela.

On February 27, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said oil-sale proceeds were being routed to accounts handled by the US Treasury. A January 9 US executive order described the funds as Venezuelan sovereign funds held in Treasury custody. These are official US accounts of the arrangement. Critics of US policy dispute their credibility, arguing that Washington’s statements reflect its imperial interests and not necessarily the truth.

The Qatar and Treasury arrangements concerned the proceeds from oil sales. A separate agreement examined in a ProPublica report published Tuesday, October 20, concerns a US-backed venture with North American Blue Energy Partners. ProPublica’s review of the agreement found that the venture’s board would have a US majority, that Washington would receive a 35% stake, and that the US would hold extensive purchasing rights over the venture’s oil. The report also highlighted that the agreement does not explicitly guarantee the royalties and tax payments the White House has said would benefit Venezuela.

Jorge Rodriguez, however, maintained that oil contracts include national capital and protections for Venezuelan workers, and said that the government’s aim is to turn reserves into social welfare and domestic investment.

Delcy Rodríguez: Oil Agreements Prioritize Venezuelan Workers and National Capital

The current relationship of Venezuela with Washington has drawn criticism from various political sectors. Chavista critics and left-wing commentators have questioned whether the Bolivarian Revolution can preserve its political identity and sovereignty amid concessions to the United States. On the right, analysts and figures such as former Trump envoy Elliott Abrams have criticized Washington for working with Delcy Rodríguez’s government and for tying US interests to its continued rule.

The relationship is taking place in the aftermath of the January 3 US bombing of Venezuela, the murder of more than 100 people, including 32 Cuban and 47 Venezuelan soldiers, and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. The bilateral relationship that has developed since then is sui generis: Washington has used military force against Venezuela while negotiating with its government over oil, and Caracas has denounced the attack while pursuing agreements with the same US regime.

Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff

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