CARACAS
Venezuela’s ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) backed a sweeping oil agreement with Washington on Saturday, as American Democratic lawmakers accused US President Donald Trump of putting private profit ahead of American troops and public interests.
In a statement on US social media company X, the PSUV expressed “full support” for acting President Delcy Rodriguez and the agreements reached with the US in the energy sector.
It said the deal could help Venezuela overcome the effects of more than a decade of US sanctions and economic restrictions, while supporting economic recovery, public services, jobs and incomes for workers.
The PSUV also stressed that Venezuela’s “immense hydrocarbon reserves” should serve national development and said the process must remain within the country’s constitutional framework.
The endorsement came as Democrats sharply criticized Trump’s announcement that Washington had secured majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven oil reserves.
“Let’s be clear: this isn’t a win,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen from the state of Maryland wrote on X, arguing that Trump put US service members at risk “to get Venezuelan oil for his billionaire buddies.”
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine similarly accused Trump of using the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro to “control Venezuelan oil.”
“Will prices come down for Americans? Who knows,” Kaine wrote on X, saying the agreement would “pad the pockets of Trump family and Big Oil companies.”
“Bottom line—Using our troops for a private oil grab is corruption at epic scale!” wrote Kaine.
Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno rejected the criticism, saying Democrats would have left Maduro in power and Venezuelan oil flowing to China. “Instead, this historic deal benefits both countries for generations!” he wrote on X.
Trump has described the agreement as the “biggest oil deal in world history,” claiming it will more than double US oil reserves, increase supply and “substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans.”
Rodriguez called the agreement a “historic milestone in bilateral relations between Venezuela and the US” and said the investments would contribute to “the recovery and modernization of our industry,” economic growth and hemispheric energy security.
A US official said Rodriguez granted a private joint venture a 100-year concession to operate oil fields containing about 65 billion barrels, according to CBS News. The US would control 55% of the venture through equity and access to oil at cost.
