Trump’s Bet on Reviving Venezuela’s Broken Oil Industry

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More details, but also more questions about the Trump administration's plans for Venezuela. We'll get the latest. Plus a look at the likely years of work needed to boost Venezuela's oil output.

Amrita Sen (0:21)

No doubt Venezuela does have reserves, and US companies are owed money. However, this is not as simple as just going back and being able to produce the dilapidation of the Venezuelan infrastructure. I cannot stress how bad that is.

Luke Vargas (0:35)

And the rest of the day's news, including a potential market-first diabetes treatment for children as young as one. It's Monday, January 5th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. The Trump administration is offering conflicting narratives about its intentions in Venezuela after capturing its president, Nicolás Maduro, over the weekend. President Trump described the US as being in charge of the country yesterday evening, though that control may be indirect in nature, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained in interviews yesterday, including in this remark on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos when he was asked if the US was directly running Venezuela.

SPEAKER_1 (1:21)

What we are running is the direction that this is going to move moving forward, and that is we have leverage. This leverage we are using, and we intend to use.

Luke Vargas (1:28)

Rubio specified that that leverage came in the form of the US military, and that Washington was prepared to take action if those in Venezuela with quote control over the levers of power and quote didn't act in America's interests. So who are those people? For now, it's de facto leader Delci Rodriguez, Maduro's longtime vice president and confidant. After initially condemning Maduro's arrest and demanding his return, she has since struck a softer tone, saying Venezuela sought peace and dialogue. Journal National Security reporter Robbie Graemer says the US will be watching closely to see how cooperative Rodriguez really is.

Robbie Graemer (2:06)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says, we're not running Venezuela in the literal sense. We're working with the new leadership in Venezuela after Maduro's ouster. And Rodriguez is in power for now. But at the same time that the Trump administration says they're in contact with her. They're talking about working with her on a transition. Marco Rubio is still saying this is an illegitimate government, that there needs to be a transition to a democratically elected government in Venezuela.

Luke Vargas (2:33)

And there are other power players worth watching, including Delci Rodriguez's brother, who runs Venezuela's National Assembly, as well as the country's defense minister and interior minister, who support the US may need if it wants Venezuela run with American interests in mind. We've left a link to a Who's Who in Venezuela in our show notes.

Meanwhile, Maduro is set to appear in Manhattan Federal Court today, where he's facing charges related to cocaine trafficking. Prosecutors will eventually be tasked with proving that the strongman is the boss of what they've called the Cartel of the Sun, a loose-knit organization they allege took millions of dollars in bribes from Colombian guerrilla leaders who shipped thousands of tons of cocaine through Venezuela to the US and Europe. Maduro denies the charges. National politics reporter Sabrina Siddiqui says Maduro's trial could present the Trump administration with an opportunity to focus its actions in Venezuela on the drug trade instead of on foreign policy objectives that polling shows voters care little about.

Sabrina Siddiqui (3:32)

I did talk to a number of Republican strategists and pollsters who said that they believe that the administration could build this as a success if the Venezuela operation is truly limited in scope and say look, we're stopping the flow of illicit drugs into the US. And maybe they could even make the case that this may unlock cheaper oil for the US economy, potentially bringing down prices at the gas pump. There's going to be a lot of focus on Venezuela in the coming weeks. But by and large, the consensus even among campaign strategists and people who are working on midterm elections is that unless something truly extraordinary or unpredictable happens with respect to what the administration is doing in Venezuela, it's not going to overtake the economy and cost of living as the main driver of how people plan to vote in this election.

Luke Vargas (4:29)

And Sabrina said Democrats opposed to President Trump's actions face a similar delicate balance.

Sabrina Siddiqui (4:34)

I spoke to a Democratic pollster who was President Biden's former pollster and he actually warned Democrats not to get too consumed by the legality of Trump's actions in Venezuela or even by litigating what the US role should be in the region. And instead, he said that Democrats should really stay focused on voters who are wondering, why is this a priority rather than my economic well-being?