The $100 million worth of gold the United States brought back from Venezuela a few weeks ago was the first shipment in quite some time, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Wednesday.
Burgum made his comments on the shipment during a gathering of energy executives at S&P Global’s CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas, CNBC reported.
“There hadn’t been a shipment of precious metals between Venezuela and America in over 20 years,” he said, referring to a recent trip to Venezuela where he met with interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
Following their meeting, Burgum said America would be working with Venezuela to tap into the country’s mining sector, according to Breitbart News. He confirmed the gold shipment a few days after their meeting but shared more details this week.
“Under Rodríguez, the Venezuelan socialist regime, known for maintaining decades’ worth of hostilities against America, began collaborating with the United States, seeking American help and investment to restore its rundown oil and energy sectors in return for sharing its oil,” the outlet said.
During his comments at CERAWeek, Burgum explained that “At the end of the two days, we were able to bring home $100 million of gold — physically, the gold.” According to the CNBC report, he said the gold will be used for commercial and consumer purposes.
In January, the United States captured and arrested Venezuela’s socialist dictator, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, according to Breitbart News. The pair were brought back to the United States to await trial on narco-terrorism charges.
“Despite Rodríguez’s recurring combative remarks towards the United States and U.S. government officials, the ‘acting president’ appears to be collaborating with the Trump administration. Trump and Rodríguez spoke over the phone in mid-January and she met with Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director John Ratcliffe in Caracas days later,” the report stated.
Prior to Maduro’s capture, President Trump confirmed in October reports indicating Maduro was offering “everything” to stay in power were correct, according to Breitbart News.
Meanwhile, Burgum on Wednesday said Venezuela’s mining industry has been in “complete collapse” and “It’s down to just artisanal miners controlled by gangs, [with] probably some of the worst environmental practices in the world.”
When speaking of its current government leadership, he said, “They want a clean environment, they want to have modern investment, they want to see growth in their country.”
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