U.S. Brokers Venezuela Gold Deal Worth Over $150M

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Burgum’s Caracas Mission

\nThe gold agreement emerged from a meeting Wednesday between Burgum and Rodríguez at the Miraflores presidential palace, where the two discussed mining sector reforms and mineral extraction policy alongside American mining executives and metal traders. Rodríguez told the group that her government would move “at Trump speed” to help international partners capitalize on Venezuela’s vast mineral resources, and announced she would submit proposed reforms to the country’s mining laws to the legislature in coming days.
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Oil First, Now Gold

\nThe gold contract extends a pattern that began with oil. Trafigura is already involved in Venezuelan petroleum deals worth more than $1 billion under Trump administration supervision. In late January, Rodríguez signed legislation to expand private investment in the state-controlled oil industry, satisfying a key American demand. Trump praised the relationship on Truth Social on Wednesday, saying oil was “beginning to flow” and calling Rodríguez’s performance “excellent.”
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\nWhile one metric ton of gold is modest by global market standards, the deal carries outsized symbolic weight. Venezuela’s gold reserves were for years channeled toward allied nations including Turkey, Russia, and China, often outside formal Western financial channels and sometimes in alleged violation of international sanctions. The redirection of that flow toward US refineries represents a tangible shift in Venezuela’s economic orientation under its new Washington-backed leadership.
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Gold at Record Highs

\nThe deal arrives as gold trades near historic peaks. The metal has gained roughly a fifth in value this year, driven by geopolitical uncertainty surrounding the Iran conflict, trade tensions from US tariff policy, and concerns about Federal Reserve independence. Gold reached an all-time high above $5,595 per ounce in late January, making Venezuelan supply a particularly lucrative commodity for all parties involved.
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Sovereignty Questions Linger

\nCritics have questioned whether the US is exploiting Venezuela’s post-Maduro vulnerability for resource access. International law establishes permanent sovereignty over natural resources as a fundamental right, and UN experts described the January military operation that removed Maduro as a “grave, manifest and deliberate violation” of international law. For Rodríguez, the calculus is simpler: cooperation with Washington is the price of staying in power. Each new deal — oil, gold, and eventually rare earths — tightens the commercial bonds that make that arrangement harder to reverse.
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