US says it has returned to Venezuela all $500 million of initial oil sale

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) – The United States has now returned to the Venezuelan government all $500 million from the initial sale of oil that was part of a deal reached between Caracas and Washington last month, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.

The last $200 million from the sale has been sent to Venezuela, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The deal came about after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was captured in a U.S. military operation on January 3.

“Venezuela has officially received all $500 million from the first Venezuelan oil sale,” the official said.

The official added that the money is to be “disbursed for the benefit of the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the U.S. government.”

Last week during testimony on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said U.S. involvement in the sale of Venezuelan oil was a short-term effort aimed at stabilizing the country, keeping the government afloat and helping the people.

“So in essence, we allowed Venezuela to use their own oil to generate revenue to pay teachers and firefighters and police officers and keep the function of government operating so we didn’t have systemic collapse,” he said.

The funds had been held in Qatar and intended as a “temporary, short-term account to ensure Venezuela received the funds needed to operate,” the U.S. official said.

The official added that the long-term goal for future sales is to move the proceeds “into a fund located in the U.S. and to authorize expenditures for any obligation or expense of the government of Venezuela or its agencies and instrumentalities upon instructions that are consistent with agreed upon procedures.”

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Tom Hogue and Edwina Gibbs)