$12.26B in Venezuelan Oil Sales Went to US Account
Is U.S. oversight helping Venezuela's economy recover or is American imperialism masquerading as humanitarian concern?
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Above: Crude oil tankers docked at the Bajo Grande oil terminal on Lake Maracaibo in San Francisco, Venezuela, on Sept. 1. Image credit: Jose Isaac Bula/Anadolu/Getty Images
The Facts
- A State Department report prepared by KPMG and released on Thursday revealed that $12.26 billion from Venezuelan resource sales entered a U.S. Treasury custody account through Sept. 30, with $12.11 billion disbursed and $168.6 million remaining.
- The report, which lists 20 approved depositors but redacts their names, documents that oil and petroleum products accounted for the vast majority of the deposits (98.7%), while gold sales contributed $108 million, minerals $22 million and fertilizer $24.6 million.
- Meanwhile, vendor payments from the account totaled $133.11 million, including $5 million to the law firm Greenberg Traurig and $8.7 million to settle Venezuelan obligations to the Pan American Health Organization's vaccine and supply funds.
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The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
This report shows the lengths to which the U.S. has gone to help Venezuela's economy recover after decades of mismanagement. Through monitoring and oversight, the Treasury has ensured that the country's natural resources and wealth are protected and flow to where they are needed, helping keep shelves stocked and hospitals supplied.
Establishment-critical narrative
This report merely confirms what everyone already suspected: that the U.S. intervention had nothing to do with human rights or freedom but control over Venezuela's natural resources. This return to gunboat diplomacy and American imperialism is an affront to the principle of sovereignty and fatally undermines the Venezuelan people's autonomy.
