Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife are imprisoned in the US|@WhiteHouse|X
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty in Manhattan to drug trafficking and weapons charges.
At arraignment, Maduro, who faces life imprisonment, claimed he remains Venezuela’s president and was “kidnapped,” disputing prosecutors’ assertion that he lost the 2024 election.
The Latin American nation is facing political and economic turmoil. Regardless, President Donald Trump is optimistic that US oil companies can revitalize the country’s operations in less than 18 months.
Trump acknowledged that Venezuela’s crumbling infrastructure would need a “tremendous amount of money” to be spent on it. He also said that American energy firms that do so will be incentivized and could receive reimbursements from the government or future revenue.
Wall Street mirrors Trump’s views
Stocks of ExxonMobil, Chevron, and other US oil companies rallied on Trump’s comment that American companies will be able to regain access to Venezuela’s natural resources. Several businesses are also showing significant interest in Venezuela’s reconstruction.
Charles Myers, chairman of Signum Global Advisors, revealed plans for ~20 officials from the finance, energy, and defense sectors to visit the country this March.
He believes anywhere between $500 billion and $750 billion could be invested in Venezuela over the next five years.
However, Trump and Wall Street’s ambitions could face a major geopolitical roadblock from China.
Beijing has reportedly loaned tens of billions of dollars to Venezuela through contracts that mandate that oil sales proceeds are prioritized for debt repayment to China before other investors can collect.
Experts from AidData estimate that Venezuela may still owe Beijing as much as $10 billion.