THE NEW YORK TIMES: Venezuela’s autocrat had proposed allocating his country’s oil wealth and other natural resources to the U.S. and ending deals with American adversaries to appease President Trump.
Venezuelan officials, hoping to end their country’s clash with the United States, offered the Trump administration a dominant stake in Venezuela’s oil and other mineral wealth in discussions that lasted for months, according to multiple people close to the talks.
The far-reaching offer remained on the table as the Trump administration called the government of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela a “narco-terror cartel,” amassed warships in the Caribbean and began blowing up boats that American officials say were carrying drugs from Venezuela.
Under a deal discussed between a senior U.S. official and Mr. Maduro’s top aides, the Venezuelan strongman offered to open up all existing and future oil and gold projects to American companies, give preferential contracts to American businesses, reverse the flow of Venezuelan oil exports from China to the United States, and slash his country’s energy and mining contracts with Chinese, Iranian and Russian firms. » | Anatoly Kurmanaev, Julian E. Barnes and Julie Turkewitz | Anatoly Kurmanaev wrote about Nicolás Maduro’s government from Venezuela for eight years. He returned to Caracas to report this story. Julian E. Barnes reported from Washington, and Julie Turkewitz from Bogotá, Colombia. | Friday, October 10, 2025
En español:
Maduro ofreció petróleo y otros recursos a EE. UU. para evitar un conflicto: El autócrata venezolano había propuesto destinar la riqueza petrolera de su país y otros recursos naturales a EE. UU. y poner fin a los acuerdos con adversarios estadounidenses para apaciguar al presidente Trump. »
