{"text":[[{"start":12.5,"text":"The Trump administration’s deal to take control of 65bn barrels of Venezuela’s oil has been heavily criticised by both members of the country’s opposition and some supporters of the government. "}],[{"start":24.25,"text":"President Donald Trump on Friday evening announced an agreement granting a US-led company 100-year concessions over 17 oilfields, which account for more than a fifth of Venezuela’s reserves, the biggest in the world. "}],[{"start":38.4,"text":"Trump called the agreement the “biggest oil deal in world history”. Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez said it would bring more than $100bn of investment to the country. "}],[{"start":50.15,"text":"The two governments have made few details available about how the arrangement would work, and have yet to explain where the new investment would come from. It is also unclear what role Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), Venezuela’s sanctioned state-owned oil company, would play."}],[{"start":66.05,"text":"Juan Pablo Guanipá, one of the most prominent members of the opposition who is currently in Venezuela, said that foreign investment was vital to reviving the country’s oil industry following years of mismanagement, and that the deal had some “potential” to help boost activity. "}],[{"start":81.64999999999999,"text":"But, referring to Rodríguez’s government, he added that “as long as we have the same people who destroyed the country and PDVSA handling the money that comes from this agreement, we are building a skyscraper on clay”. "}],[{"start":94.14999999999999,"text":"Henrique Capriles, a lawmaker who leads a moderate opposition faction, said there were many doubts about the agreement because of the “opacity and corruption” of the government. "}],[{"start":103.94999999999999,"text":"“Those who destroyed PDVSA are the same ones who remain in power and who are not going to rebuild anything,” he said on X. He said the government needed to explain the legal basis for the agreement under the constitution and the benefits to the Venezuelan people. "}],[{"start":118.89999999999999,"text":"Earlier this month, the Venezuelan government and opposition began talks designed to lay the foundations for new elections. In the last poll in 2024, former president Nicolás Maduro declared himself the winner despite strong evidence that he lost to an opposition candidate."}],[{"start":136.6,"text":"Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were seized by US forces in a night-time raid on Caracas on January 3, and are currently in a New York jail awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges."}],[{"start":148.75,"text":"In the wake of the capture, the Trump administration swiftly backed Rodríguez, Maduro’s deputy, who has passed laws opening up the country’s oil and mining sectors to foreign investment."}],[{"start":159.55,"text":"Opposition politicians fear the Trump administration will now be more reluctant to push for elections because it relies on Rodríguez to implement the new oil deal. “They don’t want an election where this will be one of the main debates,” said a prominent opposition figure. "}],[{"start":174.60000000000002,"text":"Some of the strongest criticisms of the deal came from figures associated with the Chavismo political movement, which has held sway in Venezuela since the late revolutionary socialist Hugo Chávez, Maduro’s predecessor, took office in 1999. "}],[{"start":190.65000000000003,"text":"Rafael Ramírez, who was president of PDVSA from 2004 to 2014, and energy minister from 2002 to 2014, said that the deal represented “the greatest looting in our country’s history”."}],[{"start":204.25000000000003,"text":"“It signals the end of PDVSA,” said Ramírez, who broke with Maduro in 2017 and now lives in Europe. “Now it’ll just be a contract administrator.” "}],[{"start":215.70000000000002,"text":"William Rodríguez, a former member of Congress for the ruling United Socialist Party, said the agreement was “the greatest oil betrayal in the history of the country”, given that it had not been discussed in parliament and violated the constitution. "}],[{"start":230.3,"text":"On Saturday, leftwing groups took to the streets of Caracas to reject the “guardianship” of Venezuela by the US, with many holding signs saying “Yankees out of Venezuela”. "}],[{"start":240.9,"text":"“They [the US] attacked the Venezuelan homeland on January 3 and today they are trying to subjugate us,” said Fernando Berroterán, a member of the Popular Anti-imperialist Front."}],[{"start":253.4,"text":"Venezuela’s oil production has fallen, partly as a result of mismanagement and partly because of US sanctions, from a high of about 3mn barrels a day to about 1.12mn, less than one-tenth of US production. "}],[{"start":268.9,"text":"Enrique Novoa, the head of the Venezuelan petroleum chamber, said that while local oil companies have not yet seen the details of the agreement, “there is optimism in the sector for anything that supports the industry’s development”."}],[{"start":281.5,"text":"But Francisco Monaldi, an expert on the Venezuelan oil industry at Rice University, predicted little immediate impact on Venezuela’s oil output."}],[{"start":290.6,"text":"“In the short term, there’s very little that can be done to increase production quickly, so this year will likely see an increase of less than 200,000 barrels,” he said. Next year could see a somewhat higher increase, he added."}],[{"start":314.7,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1788135179_7410.mp3"}