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Deal that will reportedly see US take control of 65bn barrels of Venezuelan oil has provoked outrage in her country

Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, has defended her government’s highly controversial energy deal with Donald Trump, insisting the South American country will maintain ownership and sovereignty over its massive oil reserves.

Rodríguez, who assumed power in January after Trump ordered the abduction of the president, Nicolás Maduro, took to the airwaves on Saturday to push back against criticism of what the US president has called “the biggest oil deal in world history”.

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© Photograph: Presidency Of Venezuela/EPA

© Photograph: Presidency Of Venezuela/EPA

© Photograph: Presidency Of Venezuela/EPA

Deal that will reportedly see US take control of 65bn barrels of Venezuelan oil has provoked outrage in her country

Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, has defended her government’s highly controversial energy deal with Donald Trump, insisting the South American country will maintain ownership and sovereignty over its massive oil reserves.

Rodríguez, who assumed power in January after Trump ordered the abduction of the president, Nicolás Maduro, took to the airwaves on Saturday to push back against criticism of what the US president has called “the biggest oil deal in world history”.

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© Photograph: Presidency Of Venezuela/EPA

© Photograph: Presidency Of Venezuela/EPA

© Photograph: Presidency Of Venezuela/EPA

The administration will work with a private Venezuelan oil company that has close ties to the country’s government.

© Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York Times

A deal giving the U.S. majority control of vast Venezuelan reserves strikes at the heart of national identity.

© Alejandro Cegarra for The New York Times

The answers to questions such as how soon the reserves could be drilled and who will pay to make it happen were not immediately clear. No text of any agreement has been released.

The president said an agreement between the countries covered more than 65 billion barrels of reserves. A U.S. official said it would involve a partnership with a private company.

© Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York Times

The announcement of the deal comes nearly nine months after the U.S. military at Trump's direction carried out an operation to capture Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro and spirit him to the United States to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges.

US president says US will have ‘majority’ control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves

Donald Trump announced Friday a new US oil agreement with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez, saying the US will have “majority” control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves.

The terms of the agreement remain to be seen, but the US president said on his social-media platform that it had been brokered “through a partnership with ⁠private business” by his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.

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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

US president says US will have ‘majority’ control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves

Donald Trump announced Friday a new US oil agreement with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez, saying the US will have “majority” control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves.

The terms of the agreement remain to be seen, but the US president said on his social-media platform that it had been brokered “through a partnership with ⁠private business” by his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.

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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

President Trump’s administration has been pushing U.S. companies like Chevron to invest more in Venezuela’s oil industry.

© Marco Bello/Reuters

Critics call move to gain long-term access to country’s massive energy reserves ‘predatory’ and ‘unconstitutional’

Reports that the US is preparing to claim a big stake in Venezuela’s massive energy reserves have sparked an outcry, with critics describing the move as “predatory” and a “rapacious” land grab.

Several media outlets this week reported that the Trump administration – which abducted Venezuela’s authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, in January and has steered the South American country ever since – hopes to secure long-term access to its oil and gasfields.

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© Photograph: Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A former lieutenant colonel in Venezuela’s National Guard living in Florida was deported, interrupting a lawsuit that accused him of ordering violent raids and torture.