The United States has returned the full $500 million it received from the first phase of Venezuela’s oil sales to the country’s government, a US official said on Tuesday (February 6).
The official, who did not want to be named, said that the last $200 million was recently sent to Venezuela, completing the return of the first phase of the oil sales to the country.
The US official said that Venezuela has officially received the full $500 million received from the first oil sales. The money will be spent “for the benefit of the Venezuelan people”, according to the US government.
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the US Congress that US involvement in the sale of Venezuelan oil was a short-term initiative. Its purpose was to maintain stability in the country, keep the government running and help the ordinary people.
He said, “Basically, we gave Venezuela the opportunity to use its own oil to generate income.” This will allow teachers, firefighters and police to be paid and basic government operations to continue. As a result, the entire system will not collapse.
US officials said that the money was kept in the queue and was used as a “temporary and short-term fund”. Such steps have been taken to ensure that the Venezuelan government can get the necessary money.
They said that in the future, there is a plan to transfer the proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan oil to a fund located in the United States. From there, according to the established process, it will be authorized to cover the expenses of the Venezuelan government and its various agencies.
It is worth noting that the oil sale was arranged as part of an agreement between Washington and Caracas last month. The agreement was reached after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a US military operation on January 3.
