President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to declare a national emergency to safeguard Venezuelan oil revenue held in US accounts, said the White House on Saturday. This will help in preventing a seizure of Venezuelan oil revenue that could stall the efforts by the Trump administration to ensure economic and political stability in the Latin American country.
In a fact-sheet, the White House said that the executive order will prohibit the transfers or dealings in these funds "except as authorised, superseding any prior Orders that might block or regulate them". The order also affirms that the funds available in US accounts are Venezuela's sovereign property.
"The Order blocks any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process against Foreign Government Deposit Funds," it said, "Foreign Government Deposit Funds are defined as the Venezuelan oil revenues and diluent sales held in U.S. Treasury accounts."
Defending the US president's decision, the White House said that the attachment of these funds are halt efforts of the Trump administration to stop narco-terrorism, which has claimed countless American lives. It also noted that these funds only for sovereign purposes.
"Loss of control over these revenues would empower malign actors like Iran and Hezbollah while weakening efforts to bring peace, prosperity, and stability to the Venezuelan people and to the Western Hemisphere as a whole," the White House said.
Trump promises oil executives 'total safety'
The development comes after Trump promised oil executives 'total safety' if they invest in Venezuelan after the US captured Nicolas Maduro. During a meeting with oil industry executives on Friday, the US president said the industry leaders are dealing with his administration directly and not with Venezuela. He further said that giant oil companies will be spending at least USD 100 billion of their money, noting that they need government's protection.
Venezuela's oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodr guez, as well as protections for companies entering the market. While Rodriguez has publicly denounced Trump and the ouster of Maduro, the US president has said that to date Venezuela's interim leader has been cooperating behind the scenes with his administration.
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