5 Stats Showing How Venezuela Could Affect U.S. Businesses |
Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, and President Trump is angling to get U.S. companies a share.
BY BRIAN CONTRERAS, STAFF REPORTER @_B_CONTRERAS_
Photo: Getty Images
Caracas may be thousands of miles from Washington, D.C., but what happens in the Venezuelan capital over the next few weeks could nevertheless send reverberations through America’s halls of power—and even down its main streets.
The seizure of President Nicolás Maduro—who will stand trial in the U.S. for charges including narco-terrorism and cocaine importation following an American military operation that some have labeled an abduction—will likely prove especially impactful when it comes to Venezuela’s massive oil reserves. The Trump administration has already demanded that Venezuela’s new interim leader Delcy Rodriguez stop the sale of oil to America’s enemies while also angling to secure American companies a stake in the sector.
Here are five key stats you need to know to understand the contours of the Venezuelan oil economy and how its present precarity could blow back on U.S.........