Out of all Donald Trump’s meetings that week, the one held in the afternoon on Friday, January 9, was arguably among the most important. Six days after United States special forces abducted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro from Caracas, the president received representatives of major oil companies at the White House. He was counting on them to exploit Venezuela’s hydrocarbon resources, but the meeting did not meet all of his expectations.

The US authorities have planned to take full control of the country’s oil production. The regime in Caracas, which operates under the threat of further interventions, had reportedly already agreed to transfer 50 million barrels of oil to the US as a gesture of cooperation. To restart drilling operations in the country, Washington needed to secure the commitment of the oil sector’s major companies.

At the start of the roundtable, Trump turned to the cameras and, pointing to the CEOs, said: “The plan is for them to spend at least $100 billion [€86 billion] to rebuild the capacity and the infrastructure necessary” to exploit the oilfields. According to the president, the companies would fully fund these investments in exchange for guarantees of protection and security from the US government, which would act as an intermediary. As a warning, he then told them: “If you don’t want to go in, just let me know, because I’ve got 25 people that aren’t here today who are willing to take your place.”

You have 73.43% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.