U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the United States may subsidize efforts by energy companies to rebuild Venezuela¡¯s oil industry as his administration seeks to convince firms to invest in the country days after ousting strongman Nicolas Maduro.
Trump said the project to revamp Venezuela¡¯s beleaguered energy infrastructure could be accomplished within 18 months, in an interview Monday with NBC News.
¡°I think we can do it in less time than that, but it¡¯ll be a lot of money,¡± Trump told NBC. ¡°A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent and the oil companies will spend it, and then they¡¯ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue.¡±
The comments underscore the administration¡¯s view that Venezuela¡¯s vast oil reserves are central to both its recovery and U.S. strategic interests. Yet Trump has offered few specifics on how production would be restored or who would control revenues in the interim. Large oil companies have said little about their desire to resume operations there.
Energy experts say reviving Venezuela¡¯s oil industry could be a decadelong process, a much longer time frame than the president suggested ¡ª and could cost upwards of $100 billion. Years of corruption, underinvestment, fires and thefts have left Venezuela¡¯s crude facilities in tatters.
Trump¡¯s remarks come as he faces skepticism over his audacious military intervention in Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of Maduro. The U.S. president has said the raid was necessary to apprehend a man American authorities have accused of running a drug-trafficking operation and to retake oil assets. Opponents said the U.S. may have broken international law.
A defiant Maduro was arraigned in New York on Monday and pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges, saying he was an ¡°innocent¡± and ¡°decent man.¡±
The U.S. president on Monday said Delcy Rodriguez, who served as Maduro¡¯s vice president and was sworn in as acting president following his removal, had been cooperating with his administration, and downplayed the prospect of quick elections in the country.
¡°We have to fix the country first. You can¡¯t have an election. There¡¯s no way the people could even vote,¡± Trump said, according to NBC, when asked about a vote within the next month. ¡°No, it¡¯s going to take a period of time. We have ¡ª we have to nurse the country back to health.¡±
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