On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump demanded that Venezuela return assets that, he says, were taken from American oil companies many years ago.
“As you know, they kicked our companies out, and we want them back,” Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to the nationalization of Venezuela's oil sector in the 1970s and under President Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chávez.
According to Noticias Argentinas news agency, in a social media post, Stephen Miller, Trump's deputy chief of staff, described on Wednesday the nationalization of Venezuela's oil industry as "the largest recorded theft of US wealth and property."
“They took our oil rights, we had a lot of oil there. These looted assets were then used to finance terrorism and flood our streets with killers, mercenaries, and drugs,” Miller affirmed.
On Tuesday, Trump ordered a “total and complete blockade of all sanctioned tankers entering and leaving Venezuela,” intensifying a months-long pressure campaign against the Venezuelan president.
In this way, the head of state indicated in his Truth Social post that the United States “will not allow a hostile regime to take our oil, land, or any other asset, all of which must be returned to the United States, IMMEDIATELY”.
