Walter Oliver

The outrageous US-Delcy oil heist will hurt and delay the recovery of Venezuela’s oil. Two kleptocracies and a rapacious US stance makes Venezuela less investible and poisons Venezuelan politics. In @CNN’s Quest Means Business. video.snapstream.net/Play/50…

Secretary Marco Rubio: You have just lost any trust Venezuelans ever had on you, and it will come to haunt you. You opted to use US power, not to free Venezuelans, but to go to bed with our oppressors. You opted to push an asset grab, an unconstitutional deal with an illegitimate oppressive government, instead of using US leadership to re-establish constitutional rule and democracy first, and then deal with a legitimate government that could have made credible long-term commitments, in due course. This announced deal will not stand. Delcy, contrary to what you boss just stated [see below] is not "highly respected" by any Venezuelan I know, or by any American outside of the Mar-a-lago kleptocracy. She has no legitimacy or constitutional power to commit Venezuela to any such deal. Venezuelans will not respect this illegitimate deal and no major US oil company will take it seriously because they know it will not last. No wonder you are using wanted criminals - like Alejandro Betancourt - to make this shameful deal. You are also preventing our leader - Maria Corina Machado - from returning to Venezuela, and you have conspired to delay elections and the return to democracy. Shameful.