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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro

Trump ally defends Venezuela oil deal amid ‘gunpoint diplomacy’ criticism

a man leans forward to speak with a woman seated near him
Chris Wright and Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s interim president, during a meeting over an oil agreement at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on Wednesday. Photograph: Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images

The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, has denied Washington is seeking to commandeer huge quantities of Venezuelan oil, amid growing criticism of Donald Trump’s energy deal with the country’s interim leaders.

“Absolutely not,” Wright replied when asked by a CNBC journalist if the US was engaged in a “heavy-handed” attempt to “take” Venezuelan oil in violation of the South American country’s constitution.

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