On August 5 (local time), according to TASS news agency, US President Donald Trump declared Venezuelan oil a "spoils of war" that Washington gained after the military campaign in this South American country.
Speaking in the suburbs of Las Vegas, Nevada, Mr. Trump emphasized that Venezuela is one of the countries with the largest oil reserves in the world.
Billions of barrels of oil are being exploited from Venezuela. This is one of the richest oil-producing places in the world," Mr. Trump said.
The US leader also described the military campaign against Venezuela as "a 48-minute war". According to him, in this campaign, US forces arrested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and took both of them out of the country.
Mr. Trump said Washington has acted in a "traditional way", while affirming that the value that the US earns from Venezuela's oil resources is much greater than the cost of military operations.
In addition, the US President cited estimates that the US and Venezuela combined hold about 60% of the world's oil and gas reserves, emphasizing that this is a resource of particular significance to global energy security.
According to TASS, on January 3, the US military attacked civilian and military facilities in Venezuela, arrested President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and took them to the US.
On January 5, the two appeared before the Federal Court of South New York to face charges related to drug trafficking. Both Mr. Maduro and his wife rejected all charges and declared not guilty.
After Mr. Maduro was removed from Venezuela, Ms. Delcy Rodriguez, who used to hold the position of Executive Vice President under Mr. Maduro, is now in charge of running the country.
Venezuela is considered to own one of the world's largest confirmed oil reserves. For many years, the oil and gas industry has always played a key role in the country's economy as well as one of the controversial issues in relations between Venezuela and the United States.
Mr. Trump's latest statements about Venezuelan oil are likely to continue to spark debate about the goals of the US military campaign, in the context that the political and security situation in Venezuela is still attracting the attention of the international community.
