U.S. Unfreezes Certain Impounded Venezuelan Assets
Addressing the nation via television on Tuesday, Rodriguez stated she had communicated with US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio with "respect and courtesy," and that the released capital would finance purchases of hospital equipment from the US "and other countries."
"We are unblocking Venezuelan resources that belong to the Venezuelan people… and this will allow us to invest significant resources in equipment for hospitals," she said. Rodriguez further stated that Venezuela will also acquire "equipment for the electricity sector and equipment for the gas industry" with the funds.
Rodriguez declined to specify the volume of resources being released. President Nicolas Maduro asserted in 2022 that approximately $30 billion in Venezuelan holdings were frozen internationally. These assets comprise petroleum impounded by the US and roughly $2 billion in gold frozen in the UK.
Maduro was abducted by US forces earlier this month and charged with narcoterrorism, cocaine trafficking, and firearms offenses. Rodriguez has denounced the kidnapping of Maduro, but has attempted to placate Washington—namely by allowing US companies to run the South American nation's oil industry.
Venezuela's petroleum sector was nationalized in 1976, with American contractors facing additional limitations under Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez, in 2007. Trump has repeatedly claimed that these moves amounted to Venezuela "stealing" oil infrastructure built by US firms.
Trump has warned that if Rodriguez "doesn't do what's right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro." The US president spoke with Rodriguez by phone last week, and announced plans to invite her to the White House.
Rodriguez insisted on Sunday that she had enough of "Washington's orders," and that Venezuelans alone would "resolve our differences and our internal conflicts." Asked on Tuesday about Rodriguez' comments, Trump replied: "I haven't heard that at all. We have a very good relationship."
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