Trump Declares «Total Access» to Venezuelan Oil as Milei Refutes Claims of U.S. Oil Seizure

Original article: Trump habla de “acceso total” al crudo y Milei lo niega: “Es una estupidez cuando hablan de que EE.UU. se quiere apropiar del petróleo”

In defending the controversial U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, Argentine President Javier Milei presented a stark contradiction to the reasons publicly stated by Donald Trump’s administration to justify the operation. While the White House explicitly indicated controlling the Caribbean nation’s oil as a central objective, the so-called «libertarian» dismissed this interpretation as «stupidity» and criticized those who claim that «the United States wants to seize the oil.»

Hours after bombing raids in Caracas and other cities, which culminated in the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Trump delivered a speech clearly outlining one of the strategic interests behind the operation.

In his address, the U.S. president mentioned oil 25 times and publicly announced Washington’s «total access» to this energy resource, even describing it as «our oil.»

This «total access» has already become a significant condition for the interim President Delcy Rodríguez’s administration to hand over «between 30 and 50 million» barrels of Venezuelan oil as a bargaining chip for a ceasefire.

Nevertheless, in a streaming interview with Neura, Milei dismissed this reality, stating, «It’s stupidity to say that the U.S. wants to seize the oil, because what defines wealth is respect for private property, life, and institutions.» He further justified, «That’s what generates wealth.»

To bolster his argument, Milei referenced Venezuelan actress Catherine Fulop, who has lived in Argentina for decades and defended the invasion of her country, stating she cares more about freedom than oil.

«What she said is brilliant; she understood everything,» Milei praised her remarks.

Oil as a Tool Against «Communism» and «Drug Trafficking»

However, following his initial denial about the appropriation of oil, Milei swiftly proceeded to justify U.S. control over Venezuelan energy resources but framed it differently.

«Why control the oil? To cut off, let’s say, the supply to the communists,» he explained, adopting a McCarthyite rhetoric. «The reason why the United States is removing Maduro from Venezuela is linked to that,» he added.

He went on to link oil production with support for drug trafficking, a theory that has been debunked.

«Controlling Venezuelan oil also means cutting off the use of PDVSA’s logistics for drug trafficking,» he asserted. This claim ignores the fact that the U.S. Department of Justice has had to revise its accusations of «drug trafficking» against Maduro after acknowledging the lack of evidence for the alleged «Cartel of the Suns.»

The updated accusation presented in the Southern District Court of New York, where Maduro and Flores are detained at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center following their capture last Saturday, shows significant changes. While the March 2020 version promoted by Trump’s administration described the «Cartel of the Suns» as a hierarchical and operational criminal structure, the revised wording reduces it to an abstract concept.

As reported by The New York Times, in the 2020 document, the alleged cartel was mentioned 32 times, characterized as a drug trafficking organization personally run by Maduro, which armed FARC dissidents in Colombia with the explicit purpose of «flooding the United States with cocaine.» In contrast, the corrected accusation refers to it only twice, no longer defining it as a distinct criminal entity but instead referring to it as a «patronage system» and a «culture of corruption» fueled by drug money.

Milei’s Unwavering Alignment with Trump and Defense of Attacks on Venezuela

After elaborating his hypotheses, the «libertarian» once again reaffirmed his alignment with the far-right occupant of the White House.

«I am deeply geopolitically aligned» with Donald Trump’s administration, he declared, although he dismissed that this would lead to a trade break with China.

«The United States has trade ties with China. That doesn’t mean that I am not deeply geopolitically aligned with the United States,» he justified.

As a corollary, he lauded the military operation itself, calling Trump’s orders to illegally abduct Maduro and his wife «admirable» and even justified the killing of some members of his presidential guard: «They were 32 Cubans who were not just touring Venezuela but were there as military agents.»

«We were talking about a dictatorship. This narco-terrorist state had already started to show cracks back in 2007. Today, terrorism takes on many facets and has funded politicians, media, journalists, and businesspeople. That’s why so many people are concerned about what’s happening in Venezuela,» he stated, according to remarks collected by Página/12.

In passing, he lashed out at those who reject the invasion, carried out without the backing of the U.S. Congress or the United Nations (UN).

«There’s nothing more ridiculous than seeing a leftist upset about celebrating the fall of a dictator. Those who have lived through communism hate it. Only leftists with private health insurance love it,» he claimed.

Milei’s defense, grounded in arguments disconnected from official White House statements and theories about drug trafficking previously dismissed by U.S. justice, cements his position as the most fervent ally of intervention in the region, even though it requires contradicting the very initiator of the operation.