<\/p>\nListen to this article<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span>4 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>United States Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has met with Venezuela\u2019s interim President Delcy Rodriguez in Caracas, as part of a push from US President Donald Trump to ramp up oil and mineral production in the South American country.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, the meeting culminated with the announcement that Rodriguez would submit a proposal to reform Venezuela\u2019s mining laws to the country\u2019s legislature in the coming days.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Burgum also expressed optimism that economic relations between the US and Venezuela would continue to tighten.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe opportunities for collaboration and synergy between our two great countries of Venezuela and the United States are unlimited,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He added that he was accompanied on his two-day trip by representatives from nearly a dozen companies seeking access to Venezuela\u2019s oil and minerals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are eager to get started, and they are eager to cut the red tape to allow that capital investment to flow,\u201d Burgum said.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"claiming-venezuelan-resources\">Claiming Venezuelan resources<\/h2>\n<p>The growing economic ties between Venezuela and the US come in the wake of a January 3 military operation to abduct and imprison Venezuela\u2019s former leader, Nicolas Maduro.<\/p>\n<p>The military operation was criticised as a violation of Venezuelan sovereignty. Experts from the United Nations, for instance, described the incident as a \u201cgrave, manifest and deliberate violation of the most fundamental principles of international law\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>But in the months since the military attack, the Trump administration has sought to give private enterprises greater access to Venezuela\u2019s natural resources, some of which were nationalised.<\/p>\n<p>Trump himself has claimed that the US has a right to Venezuelan oil, as a result of early petroleum exploration in the country. He called the nationalisation push in Venezuela \u201cthe greatest theft in the history of America\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Venezuela not only has some of the largest oil reserves in the world but also substantial deposits of gold, copper, diamonds, coltan and other minerals.<\/p>\n<p>Burgum acknowledged the wealth of resources in his remarks on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVenezuela is a rich, rich country filled with both oil and gas resources, but also rich in critical minerals,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"collaboration-or-exploitation\">Collaboration or exploitation?<\/h2>\n<p>But critics have questioned whether the US is exploiting Venezuela for its own economic gain.<\/p>\n<p>International law, for example, has established that each country has permanent sovereignty over its \u201cnatural wealth and resources\u201d. Violations of that principle, under the law, amount to an infringement of the right to self-determination.<\/p>\n<p>Advocates have also pointed out that the Rodriguez administration has faced threats from Trump to act in accordance with his wishes.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with The Atlantic magazine in January, for instance, Trump warned that if Rodriguez \u201cdoesn\u2019t do what\u2019s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Already, in late January, Rodriguez signed into law a reform to\u00a0expand private investment in Venezuela\u2019s state-controlled oil industry, satisfying one of Trump\u2019s primary demands.<\/p>\n<p>Her government has also transferred at least 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil to the Trump administration to sell, with Trump himself controlling how the proceeds are distributed.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has been a vocal proponent of fossil fuel usage, having called climate change a \u201choax\u201d and a \u201cscam\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He has also praised Rodriguez for her cooperation, citing her administration as a model for other governments, including Iran\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>In a social media <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/116172714486213504\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">post<\/a> on Wednesday, Trump reiterated his satisfaction with Rodriguez\u2019s job performance so far.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDelcy Rodriguez, who is the President of Venezuela, is doing a great job, and working with US Representatives very well,\u201d Trump wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Oil is beginning to flow, and the professionalism and dedication between both countries is a very nice thing to see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The US diplomatic mission in Venezuela, meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/usembassyve\/status\/2029218654861054388\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">characterised<\/a> Burgum\u2019s two-day visit as a \u201cvital and historic step\u201d in a \u201cthree-phase plan\u201d to benefit both countries.<\/p>\n<p>It noted the US and Venezuela would \u201cwork for a legitimate mining sector and safe critical mineral supply chains\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Due to poor economic conditions in Venezuela, an informal mining sector has developed, lacking oversight and regulations. That can make working conditions treacherous. Just last October, heavy rainfall caused a gold mine to collapse, killing 14 people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a04 mins info United States Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has met with Venezuela\u2019s interim President Delcy Rodriguez in Caracas, as part of a push from US President Donald Trump to ramp up oil and mineral production in the South American country. On Wednesday, the meeting culminated with the announcement that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}