Trump Venezuela Oil Deal, US & Iran Renew Strikes, House Back From Recess

**A Martínez** (0:02)
The US and Venezuela struck an oil deal that President Trump says will lower gas prices.

**Leila Fadel** (0:07)
The plan depends on an unelected government staying in power, so what happens to the push for democracy in Venezuela?

**Eric McDaniel** (0:14)
I'm E.

**A Martínez** (0:14)
Martinez, that is Leila Fadel, and this is Up First from NPR News.
The war with Iran is flaring up again. The US struck Iranian targets, and the Strait of Hormuz its first attack in a month. Iran fired back at American bases in Jordan and the UAE.

**Leila Fadel** (0:31)
And the House is back for one week with one main job. Keep the government open. A funding bill has already cleared the Senate, and President Trump is on board. With the midterm elections closing in, Republicans are searching for a message that cuts through the high prices and an unpopular president. Stay with us, we'll give you the news you need to start your day. President Trump announced the US will be taking majority control of more than 65 billion barrels worth of Venezuela's oil reserves.

**A Martínez** (1:05)
Trump says the deal with Venezuela's unelected government will help lower gas prices. It's not clear, though, if or when that might happen. And it comes as Trump struggles domestically and can't seem to get out of an unpopular war with Iran. It's also raising new questions. The biggest one, what happens to democracy in Venezuela?

**Leila Fadel** (1:24)
For more on the agreement, we have NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez. Good morning.

**Franco Ordonez** (1:29)
Good morning, Leila.

**Leila Fadel** (1:30)
Okay, so the headline is big oil deal reach between the US and Venezuela. What's in the fine print?

**Franco Ordonez** (1:36)
Yeah, Leila, I mean, specifics are really scarce, but a US official not authorized to speak publicly about the deal told me that the US government is entering a joint venture with a private company in Venezuela. The US has not named that company, but through this venture, the US would effectively control 55% of the venture's output through a combination of equity ownership and access to oil at cost. But as you said, no info about how long this will take, and it really could take a long time considering how run down the Venezuela system is.

**Leila Fadel** (2:07)
We mentioned the questions about the future of democracy in Venezuela. How serious is that concern?

**Franco Ordonez** (2:13)
I mean, it's very real and a growing concern. After the US captured then-Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro earlier this year, I mean, the administration outlined a three-phase strategy for Venezuela, and it started with stabilization, then it went to reviving the economy, and then it was supposed to move to a third phase of transition and new elections. Well, this deal throws all of that into question. I was talking with Benjamin Gadin, who led the Venezuela portfolio in the Obama White House, and he says this really has the potential for a fundamental change in what Washington actually wants out of Venezuela.

**Benjamin Gadin** (2:50)
On that long list of US considerations, democracy, we believe, was always the guiding principle for US policy, and now it has fallen either very low down that list or off that list entirely.

**Franco Ordonez** (3:02)
Gadin said that Trump is signing basically a long-term oil arrangement that will largely depend on the current regime staying in power.

**Leila Fadel** (3:10)
Let's talk about Venezuela's interim president. Delce Rodriguez is also touting this deal. On Saturday, she called it a win for her country. Is it a win?

**Franco Ordonez** (3:20)
Yeah. I mean, it's very complicated. I mean, there's no question that Venezuela badly needs investment into its oil industry, which is producing well below its historic production levels. I mean, the US would also benefit from greater access to Venezuela oil.
But what are the political costs? I mean, we're already seeing big pushback out of Venezuela, as well as in South Florida and Miami, that the US is basically taking part of Venezuelan sovereignty while also legitimizing non-elected government.

**Leila Fadel** (3:51)
What about risks for the US political, economic?

**Franco Ordonez** (3:55)
One of the reasons the US is doing this is because big companies were slow to invest, and that's because Venezuela has been an unreliable partner. I mean, the ExxonMobil CEO actually went so far as calling Venezuela uninvestable.
Politically, it just feeds a long-standing criticism of this idea of an imperialist America that is only interested in Latin America for its natural resources. Experts like Gideon argue that it's a recipe for another anti-American revolution, the kind that brought Hugo Chavez to power and who nationalized the oil industry decades ago.