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President Donald Trump announced that he called off an "expected second wave" of attacks on Venezuela after its new government agreed to release a large number of political prisoners less than a week after the capture of de facto removed President Nicolás Maduro.
"Venezuela is releasing large numbers of political prisoners as a sign of 'Seeking Peace,'" Trump wrote in a post shared on his Truth Social account Friday (January 9) morning. "This is a very important and smart gesture. The U.S.A. and Venezuela are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure. Because of this cooperation, I have cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks, which looks like it will not be needed, however, all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes. At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT."
Trump is scheduled to host executives from several top oil companies at the White House Friday afternoon including Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, three days after he announced that Venezuela would sell up to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S. at "market price."
“Everything we’ve wanted, they’ve given us,” Trump told FOX News host Sean Hannity Thursday night while discussing his relations with the interim government, which is now being led by Delcy Rodriguez following the capture of Maduro last Saturday (January 3).
“We’re taking billions and billions of dollars worth of oil, and it’ll be hundreds of billions of dollars. It’ll be trillions of dollars,” the president predicted. “But we’re going to be there until we straighten out the country. We’ll see how the country is doing. But we’ll be running the oil.”
Venezuela announced multiple high-profile political prisoners would be released in an effort of goodwill toward the United States days after Maduro's capture.
“Consider this a gesture by the Bolivarian (Venezuelan) government, which is broadly intended to seek peace,” said Jorge Rodriguez, Delcy’s brother and the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, via the New York Post.