The Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated this Wednesday, during a cabinet meeting at the White House led by President Donald Trump, that Venezuelan oil money is no longer being stolen and that, for the first time, it directly benefits the Venezuelan people.
"For the first time, that money is not being stolen. It is going to benefit the Venezuelan people," Rubio stated before the cabinet.
The Secretary of State specified that since January 3, 2026 —the date of Nicolás Maduro's capture— over 10 million barrels of Venezuelan oil have been sent to the United States.
“That industry is being professionalized for the first time,” Rubio stated, adding that Venezuela sells crude oil on the market at market prices.
As explained, the income goes into an account in the United States that is controlled and monitored by the Department of the Treasury and audited by the firm KPMG, which ensures the transparency of the process.
Rubio framed these figures within the three-phase plan for Venezuela that he himself presented in January: stabilization, recovery, and transition. "This process continues," he emphasized.
In the same cabinet meeting, Rubio also addressed the situation in Cuba, a matter directly linked to the collapse of Venezuelan oil supplies to the island.
Since January 2026, Cuba has stopped receiving the subsidized oil that the Maduro regime was sending, which has dramatically worsened the energy crisis in Cuba.
On May 5th, Rubio had already debunked the argument of the Cuban regime regarding a supposed oil blockade, explaining that Havana received free oil from Venezuela and resold 60% of it without benefiting the population.
"You can imagine that nowadays, with oil prices as they are, no one is giving away oil, much less to a failed regime," he pointed out.
Russian oil, which arrived as a partial alternative, barely meets 10% of Cuba's energy needs, resulting in blackouts of up to 25 hours a day in over 55% of the national territory.
On May 1st, Trump signed a new executive order that expands sanctions against the Cuban dictatorship in the energy, defense, mining, and finance sectors, including secondary sanctions on foreign banks that operate with the regime.
Rubio had warned on May 5 that Cuba represents "a failed state 90 miles from our shores" and that the situation is "unacceptable." His message was clear: "Things are going to change."
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