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Nobel Peace Prize winner Machado criticizes Trump’s Venezuela oil deal: “Resources belong to the people”

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • María Corina Machado criticized a large oil agreement between Donald Trump and Venezuela’s interim government while supporting energy cooperation with the United States.
  • Machado said the government led by unelected interim President Delcy Rodríguez lacks democratic legitimacy to negotiate Venezuela’s resources.
  • The agreement includes more than 65 billion barrels of oil, while Venezuela holds about 303 billion barrels in proven reserves, according to the report.

María Corina Machado has publicly challenged Donald Trump’s oil agreement with Venezuela, arguing that the country’s underground wealth belongs to its people, not to a government she considers illegitimate.

The Venezuelan opposition leader and last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner said she viewed the United States as an important partner for developing Venezuela’s strategic potential. But in a video posted on social media, she drew a firm line between cooperation with Washington and recognition of the interim government led by Delcy Rodríguez.

The United States is the most important partner Venezuela needs to fully develop its strategic potential.

· María Corina MachadoShe expressed support for energy cooperation with Washington.

“The United States is the most important partner Venezuela needs to fully develop its strategic potential,” Machado said. “But the wealth of our underground resources belongs to the Venezuelan people, not to an illegitimate regime.”

Her comments marked her first public response to Trump’s announcement on Aug. 28 of what he called the largest oil agreement in world history. Machado criticized the deal’s Venezuelan counterpart while avoiding a direct confrontation with the White House, saying the authorities now controlling the Miraflores presidential palace had neither the democratic authority nor the right to negotiate the country’s natural resources.

But the wealth of our underground resources belongs to the Venezuelan people, not to an illegitimate regime.

· María Corina MachadoShe rejected the interim government’s authority to negotiate Venezuela’s natural resources.

Machado said opposition supporters felt “sadness and anger” because they had been excluded from the decision-making process. Rodríguez took power after former President Nicolás Maduro was arrested by U.S. special forces in January, according to the report. She was not elected. Initial expectations that Washington would support Machado after Maduro’s removal instead gave way to Trump’s cooperation with Rodríguez’s interim government. Trump warned Rodríguez that refusing U.S. demands could bring a price greater than Maduro’s.

Venezuela holds about 303 billion barrels of proven crude reserves, the world’s largest reported total. More than 65 billion barrels are covered by the agreement.

sadness and anger

· María Corina MachadoShe described opposition supporters’ reaction to their exclusion from the agreement’s decision-making process.
About this summary

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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