US Control of Venezuelan Oil Revenues and Sales Raises Legal and Sovereign Precedent Questions

The Jimmy Dore Show (On Rumble) discusses what it describes as a new US system for controlling Venezuela’s oil revenues. Citing commentary by Shaka Pierira, the programme outlines a sequence of events in which, following military action, the US announced it would run Venezuela’s oil sector and issued an executive order shielding oil revenues from all creditor claims.

The discussion states that the US government directly marketed and completed a $500m sale of Venezuelan oil. It says the proceeds were deposited in an account in Qatar, a neutral third-country jurisdiction, rather than in US or Venezuelan banks. According to the programme, this structure was intended to place the funds beyond the reach of Venezuela’s international creditors, who are said to be owed approximately $170bn.

The programme characterises this approach as a new model for handling state-controlled natural resources, describing it as distinct from previous interventions. It presents the sequence of actions as an example of how oil revenues can be managed outside existing creditor and legal frameworks, and suggests this approach could be applied in similar situations elsewhere.