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Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., explains why Trump wants to retake the Panama Canal on ‘Varney & Co.’
EXCLUSIVE: A top Republican congressman who has advocated for swift, yet peaceful ends to Latin American dictatorships spoke to Fox News Digital after news broke that the Trump administration will allow Chevron to maintain its assets in Venezuela.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., previously celebrated President Donald Trump’s original move to reverse a deal forged by former President Joe Biden and the regime of Caracas’ dictator Nicolás Maduro that permitted the Texas company to continue operating there.
“This is personal to me,” Gimenez said in Miami in February, flanked by Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó and local Latino leaders.
On Wednesday, Gimenez was similarly upbeat on Trump’s latest move to somewhat reverse his original decision – albeit with several key restrictions, including that Chevron cannot import oil from Venezuela, among other stipulations.
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Rep. Carlos Gimenez. (REUTERS/Eva Marie Uzcategui / Reuters)
“As far as I know, they can’t continue the [oil production] license,” Gimenez said of the new deal.
“They also cannot continue to pay royalties to the Maduro regime. And what they are allowed to do is to maintain their assets in Venezuela, which then would [fulfill] their argument [that] the Chinese were going to take over their assets.”
There had been concern that if Chevron was forced out of Venezuela by U.S. sanctions or executive decisions that China or another malign actor aligned with Maduro would swoop in and use the American-built infrastructure that exceeds the quality of other Venezuelan oil outlets.
“My understanding is this is reverting back to the Trump-era policies, which I support. So, as far as I’m concerned, it was the best of both worlds,” Gimenez said.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
“Number one, stop paying royalties to Maduro to the tune of up to $700 million or more per month, which is propping up that dictatorial and illegitimate regime. And two, we’re able to keep our assets and keep the Chinese out. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a win-win for us.”
Gimenez, the only Cuban-born member of Congress, has long been calling for avenues to democratize Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua – all currently run by strongmen.
After fleeing the Castros with his family as a young boy, Gimenez returned to Cuban soil for the first time in more than 60 years when he joined a congressional delegation to the U.S. military compound at Guantánamo Bay.
That trip, he told Fox News Digital, left him even more encouraged and focused on returning Cuba to the country it was when he was born – and to seek similar ends in Venezuela.
Gimenez said Wednesday the two dictators – Maduro and Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana – are intertwined economically, with the former “propping up” the latter.
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FOX Business’ Kelly Saberi reports on how the Trump administration’s foreign policy relations with Venezuela can impact Chevron’s oil productions.
In exchange for employing Cuban security personnel in Venezuela, Caracas sends tens of thousands of barrels of oil per day to Havana to “literally keep the lights on.”
Cuba is known for its blackouts and tenuous electrical grid.
However, Gimenez also warned U.S. interests not to stray from the tight confines of the new Trump administration order – and that if oil companies are somehow still paying royalties to Maduro, the conditions should change immediately.
“I’ve been telling Chevron the best thing to do is somehow support and push the administration to support a peaceful transition of power to the legitimate government, which is the one by the legitimately elected president of Venezuela, which is Edmundo Gonzalez.”
Gonzalez was declared to have lost the 2024 presidential election there, but the results favoring Maduro were heavily disputed as empirically inaccurate. Gonzalez served as ambassador to Argentina under the last democratic leader of Venezuela, Rafael Caldera.
Maduro succeeded the late Hugo Chavez – who first took power after his election in 1999, succeeding Caldera.
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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado breaks down Chevron’s negotiations with the Trump administration over operations in Venezuela and more on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend.’
“Right now, what we have is an illegitimate dictatorship, and we should always be on the side of democracy and freedom, and that’s what we’re fighting for,” Gimenez told Fox News Digital.
Chevron’s license to operate in Venezuela ended on Tuesday, though sources told Reuters that Chevron has received guidance from the Trump administration that will allow it to preserve its stakes, assets and staff in Venezuela.
State-owned oil partner PDVSA canceled cargoes scheduled for delivery to Chevron in April, citing payment uncertainties related to U.S. sanctions that cut short the time to conclude those transactions.
Fox Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.
