CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) 鈥� United States arrived Wednesday in Venezuela for a firsthand assessment of the country’s oil industry, a visit that further asserts the U.S. government’s self-appointed role in turning around .
Wright met Venezuela’s at the Miraflores presidential palace in the capital, Caracas. He is expected to meet with government officials, oil executives and others during a three-day visit to the South American country.
Wright鈥檚 visit comes as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump continues to lift sanctions to allow foreign companies to operate in Venezuela and help rebuild the nation鈥檚 most important industry. It follows last month鈥檚 enactment of a Venezuelan law that opened the to private investment, reversing a tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than two decades.
鈥淚 bring today a message from President Trump,鈥� Wright told reporters as he stood next to Rodr铆guez with flags from both countries behind them. 鈥淗e is passionately committed to absolutely transforming the relationship between the United States and Venezuela, part of a broader agenda to make the Americas great again, to bring our countries closer together, to bring commerce, peace, prosperity, jobs, opportunity to the people of Venezuela.鈥�
Rodr铆guez was sworn into her new role after the of then-President in a U.S. military attack in Caracas. She proposed the overhaul of the country鈥檚 energy law after Trump said his administration would of Venezuela鈥檚 oil exports and by .
Rodr铆guez on Wednesday acknowledged that Venezuela鈥檚 relationship with the U.S. has had 鈥渉ighs and lows鈥� but said both countries are now working on a mutually benefiting 鈥渆nergy agenda.鈥�
鈥淟et diplomatic dialogue … and energy dialogue be the appropriate and suitable channels for the U.S. and Venezuela to maturely determine how to move forward,鈥� she said.
Rodr铆guez鈥檚 government expects the changes to the country’s oil law to serve as assurances for that have so far hesitated about returning to the volatile country. Some of those companies lost investments when the ruling party enacted the existing law two decades ago to favor Venezuela鈥檚 state-run oil company, PDVSA.
The new law now grants private companies control over oil production and sales, ending PDVSA’s monopoly over those activities as well as pricing. It also allows for independent arbitration of disputes, removing a mandate for disagreements to be settled only in Venezuelan courts, which by the ruling party.
Foreign investors view the involvement of independent arbitrators as crucial to guard against future expropriation.
Wright told reporters the reform 鈥渋s a meaningful step in the right direction鈥� but 鈥減robably not far and clear enough to encourage the kind of large capital flows” the U.S. would like to see in Venezuela.
Wright planned to visit oil fields Thursday.
Venezuela, which has the world鈥檚 largest proven oil reserves and produces about 1 million barrels a day, has long relied on oil revenue as a lifeblood of its economy.
Trump during his first term, locking out the state-owned company Petr贸leos de Venezuela S.A. of the global oil markets in an attempt to topple Maduro. That pushed his government to rely on a shadowy fleet of unflagged tankers to smuggle deeply discounted crude into global supply chains.
In December, Trump ordered a blockade of all 鈥渟anctioned oil tankers鈥� entering or leaving the South American country, ramping up pressure on Maduro in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on Venezuela鈥檚 economy. U.S. forces that month also began off Venezuela鈥檚 Caribbean coast.
Since Maduro’s Jan. 3 ouster, the Trump administration set out to , refining and global distribution of Venezuela鈥檚 petroleum products and oversee where the revenue flows. The administration also began lifting broad sanctions, but also continued seizing tankers 鈥� now in agreement with Venezuela’s government 鈥� including one this week in the Indian Ocean after it was tracked from the Caribbean Sea.
Wright on Wednesday told reporters the blockade is 鈥渆ssentially over鈥� as the U.S. is 鈥渇lowing Venezuelan crude out, selling it at a much higher price than Venezuela was selling it before,鈥� and the revenue is being used in specific projects benefiting Venezuelans.
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