Trump says he canceled 'second wave' of attacks on Venezuela because of Caracas' cooperation

US President Donald Trump has canceled the "second wave of attacks" on Venezuela because the Latin American country's current leadership is cooperating with Washington - especially in the oil sector. Trump wrote about this on the social network Truth Social.

"Venezuela is releasing a large number of political prisoners as a sign of the 'search for peace'. [...] The U.S. and Venezuela are working well together [...] Because of this cooperation, I have canceled the previously expected second wave of attacks, which now do not look necessary, but all vessels [enforcing the blockade of Venezuela] will remain in place for security purposes," the U.S. president said.

Trump also announced a meeting with the heads of major oil companies on Jan. 9 at the White House. They will invest at least $100 billion in Venezuela, he added.

The cost of Brent crude oil futures fell slightly after Trump's statement, follows from the data of the Intercontinental Exchange. If at the peak on Friday the contracts were trading at $62.84 per barrel, after the US President's post, they fell to $61.85. At the time of publication of this text, Brent futures added 0.4% and cost $62.26 per barrel.

The US attacked Venezuela on January 3: as a result of the operation, the country's President Nicolas Maduro was captured and taken to American territory. After that, Trump declared Washington's intention to govern Venezuela until the US could conduct a "safe, properly organized and thoughtful transfer [of power]." Reuters reported on Jan. 6 that the U.S. and Venezuela had begun talks to supply oil to U.S. refineries. And the U.S. president then revealed that Venezuela's interim authorities would hand over 30 to 50 million barrels of "high quality" oil to the U.S. that cannot be exported because of Washington's sanctions.

The acting president of Venezuela after Maduro's takeover was Delcy Rodriguez, who previously served as vice president and oil minister. She is known for her close ties to the private sector and her commitment to the ruling party in Venezuela, Reuters wrote.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor