Trump decrees a "state of emergency" to protect Venezuelan oil sales in the US

Miami.- The American president, Donald Trump, decreed this Saturday a "national emergency" to protect in United States Treasury accounts the income from the sales of Venezuelan oil, which would prevent creditors of the Venezuelan external debt from claiming the funds.

The White House stated in a statement that "President Trump is preventing the seizure of revenue from Venezuelan oil that could undermine critical U.S. efforts to ensure the political and economic stability of Venezuela."

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The order "blocks any embargo, judgment, decree, right of retention, execution, or any other judicial process against" funds in U.S. Government accounts derived from Venezuelan oil sales, and "prohibits transfers or dealings" of these resources. The decree is published after this Friday's meeting between oil executives and Trump, who offered the world's leading hydrocarbon companies "government protection and security" in the long term to achieve his goal of them investing 100 billion dollars in Venezuela. The measure also reaffirms the announcement by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who on Wednesday warned that the United States will control "indefinitely" Venezuelan crude oil sales and deposit the money derived from those transactions in U.S. government accounts to "benefit the people of Venezuela." "The order states that the funds are sovereign property of Venezuela held in the custody of the U.S. for governmental and diplomatic purposes, which are not subject to private claims," the White House indicated. Washington argued that "allowing the embargo of those funds would directly jeopardize U.S. objectives, which include curbing the influx of illegal immigrants and illicit narcotics," which it identifies as the main justifications for its intervention in Venezuela. Following the oil expropriation carried out by the late Venezuelan ruler Hugo Chávez, there have been nearly 60 arbitrations since 2000 against Venezuela for a total estimated value of 30 billion dollars, almost 15% of its international debt, according to data from the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University. Oil executives expressed to Trump this Friday their skepticism about investing in Venezuela, citing regulatory uncertainty and the expropriations carried out by Chavismo.