Donald Trump has reportedly considered the possibility of losing the 2024 election-and if that happens, he has plans for a one-way ticket to Venezuela.
According to Vanity Fair, speaking to Elon Musk on Monday, the former president said, "If something happens with this election, which would be a horror show, we'll meet the next time in Venezuela, because it'll be a far safer place to meet than our country. So you and I will go and we'll have a meeting and dinner in Venezuela."
Trump's comment about dinner in Venezuela comes at a surprising moment following Tuesday's first-and possibly only-presidential debate.
During his presidency, Trump imposed severe sanctions on the oil-rich nation. In August 2017, the Trump administration enacted sanctions that cut off Venezuela's access to U.S. financial markets, later expanding them in May 2018 to block the purchase of Venezuelan debt.
According to The Hill, Trump's sanctions continue to impact the daily lives of Venezuelans, with his "maximum pressure" strategy to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro contributing to an increased flow of refugees into neighboring countries and North America.
Trump's oil sanctions had a significant effect on Venezuela's crude oil production. The Hill notes that "Five years since Trump's oil sanctions announcement, Venezuela has finally managed to escape the worst of the crisis." Despite some sanctions being lifted and an increase in oil exports, Venezuela still has not recovered production to 1 million barrels per day.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More
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Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
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