US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has outlined how the Trump administration plans to oversee Venezuela’s oil revenue, saying funds from sanctioned oil sales will be used for basic services and placed under US supervision.
Speaking on Wednesday at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Rubio said Washington will allow Venezuela to sell oil currently subject to US sanctions, with the revenue initially directed towards policing, health care and other essential services.
"The funds from that will be deposited into an account that we will have oversight over," Rubio said, adding that the US Treasury will control the process.
Venezuela, he said, "will spend that money for the benefit of the Venezuelan people".
Rubio said the arrangement is intended as a short-term measure to stabilise the country while a political transition is under way.
"This is simply a way to divide revenue so that there isn’t systemic collapse while we work through this recovery and transition," he said.
He said the United States will not subsidise investments in Venezuela’s oil industry and is only overseeing the sale of sanctioned petroleum as an interim step.
Rubio provided new details on how Washington plans to manage the sale of tens of millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil and monitor the flow of revenue.
Rubio under scrutiny
During the hearing, lawmakers from both parties pressed Rubio for further details.
Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, asked for assurances that the oil sales would be conducted fairly and not structured to benefit companies linked to Trump.
"You are taking their oil at gunpoint, you are holding and selling that oil … you’re deciding how and for what purposes that money is going to be used in a country of 30 million people," Murphy said.
"I think a lot of us believe that that is destined for failure."
Rubio said that under Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s oil industry benefited corrupt officials and foreign buyers, including China.
He added that Venezuela’s interim leaders are now assisting the US in seizing illegal oil shipments.
The funds, initially set up to avoid legal complications, are subject to US sanctions as a blocking mechanism, Rubio said.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have already been set aside, with up to $3 billion more anticipated.
