Furore grows as Venezuela defends US oil deal with Trump

Venezuelan hardliners and opposition forces alike criticised acting president Delcy Rodriguez for agreeing to grant the US exclusive access to the country’s valuable oil resources. She may be betting that the deal with US President Donald Trump is her ticket to a tighter grip on power.One potential advantage for Rodriguez is if the deal to give the US majority control over 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan crude hems in the Trump administration’s incentive to press for swift election.“I think it can benefit Delcy to the extent that it reinforces Trump’s commitment to working with her and thus probably diminishes incentives to move quickly to a new vote,” said Risa Grais-Targow, Latin America director at Eurasia Group. That “is precisely why the opposition is so upset”, she said.Rodriguez defended the deal in televised comments on Saturday, saying it would bring prosperity and jobs to Venezuela. The agreement is expected to grant the nation around US$19 in profit per barrel of oil produced, she said.With decades of anti-US nationalism at her back, there is also the risk that the deal backfires into a political liability.Supporters of Chavismo, the political movement founded by the late president Hugo Chavez and built in part around state control of Venezuela’s oil, have their own reasons to be angry with Rodriguez.