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The United States transferred Venezuelan physical gold valued at 100 million dollars, the first shipment of precious metals between the two countries in over 20 years, according to announced this Wednesday by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum during the CERAWeek energy forum held in Houston, Texas.
"No precious metal shipments had taken place between Venezuela and the United States in over 20 years," stated Burgum to the attendees at the forum.
The official specified that the gold is intended for U.S. refineries for commercial and industrial uses, citing the news agency EFE.
The metal comes from Minerven, the Venezuelan state mining company, which signed an agreement with the international trader Trafigura to sell between 650 and 1,000 kilograms of gold doré bars with at least 98% purity.
The contract, initially reported on March 5, has an approximate value of 165 million dollars and includes a responsible sourcing program with traceability and due diligence mechanisms.
Trafigura is also managing Venezuelan oil contracts worth over 1 billion dollars.
Burgum, who chairs the U.S. National Energy Policy Council, visited Caracas in early March along with oil and mining executives, stated that he spent over 10 hours meeting with interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez to explore bilateral investment opportunities in the energy and mining sectors.
The secretary described the Venezuelan mining industry as "collapsed" and reduced to artisanal mines "controlled by gangs," but noted that he found a government commitment to modernize the sector and create conditions for bilateral business.
It also highlighted that Venezuela has an estimated gold potential of 500 billion dollars, in addition to bauxite and critical minerals for U.S. defense and industry.
The agreement is part of the transformation of the relations between Washington and Caracas following the capture of Nicolás Maduro on January 3 in the so-called "Operation Absolute Resolution," a mission ordered by President Donald Trump that resulted in the transfer of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores to New York to face federal charges. Following the capture, Rodríguez took over as interim president.
On March 6, Venezuela announced the reestablishment of diplomatic and consular relations with the U.S., and on March 12, the Trump administration formally notified the Department of Justice of its recognition of Rodríguez as the Venezuelan authority. Trump has publicly referred to her as "a wonderful person" on several occasions.
In parallel to Burgum's announcement, the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado spoke on Tuesday at the same CERAWeek forum, where she presented to the top U.S. oil executives an energy plan that minimizes state intervention to ensure investments in Venezuela.
The Minerven-Trafigura agreement represents the first attempt to formalize and modernize the Venezuelan mining sector under U.S. supervision, following years dominated by illegal artisanal mining linked to armed groups.
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