US says it has returned to Venezuela all $500 million of initial oil sale
Reuters1 day
Report: US Returns to Venezuela All $500M From First Oil Sale
Will this oil revenue prevent Venezuela from collapsing or fund corruption?
Above: A vessel sails on Lake Maracaibo in Maracaibo, Venezuela, on Feb. 1. Image credit: Maryorin Mendez/AFP/Getty Images
The Spin
Anti-Trump narrative
Handing half a billion dollars to the remnants of the Maduro regime through a Qatari offshore slush fund with zero transparency or anti-corruption controls is a concerning move from the Trump administration. Qatar sided with Maduro in 2024, even congratulating him on fraudulent elections, and this arrangement allows corrupt Venezuelan officials to continue paying off paramilitary groups and drug cartels with no real oversight.
Pro-Trump narrative
This short-term mechanism ensures the Venezuelan people benefit from their own oil proceeds, instead of watching them get seized by creditors or sold at massive discounts to China at a time when the country is running out of storage capacity and needs emergency relief to avoid total collapse. That the transfer is through Qatar is reasonable, as the Arab nation successfully played this same role when South Korean banks froze Iranian oil proceeds in 2023.