Ambassador Tom Shannon Joins NPR and CNN, Sharing Insights on Venezuela
Senior International Policy Advisor and former U.S. Ambassador Thomas A. Shannon, Jr. was featured in recent segments on NPR’s “Morning Edition” and CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown,” discussing the Trump administration’s developing approach to Venezuela days after it announced the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Ambassador Shannon, who formerly served as a diplomat in Venezuela, emphasized on NPR that balancing the country’s existing state structures with its democratic opposition is a complicated endeavor, underscoring the broader considerations now facing the administration.
“The challenge that [Trump is going to face] is that by removing President Maduro, he did not effect regime change. He effected a leadership change. The Chavista state is still in place, and this is the group that he has chosen to work with,” Ambassador Shannon said. “The question is, how do you deconstruct it? And in the process, how do you show a degree of respect for the Venezuelan people? Because at the end of the day, the Venezuelan people are the part of the equation that has been left out.”
Ambassador Shannon also explained that details of the administration’s approach to Venezuelan oil matters are “not clear at this point.”
“The U.S. does purchase oil for our strategic oil reserves, but typically, the United States is not in the business of buying oil, refining it or selling it on a market. So it’s not clear if [Trump is] going to use private brokers, private refineries, private companies or how this is going to be done, but I’m sure the details are going to emerge in the near term.”
Ambassador Shannon covered similar topics on CNN, adding that the recent seizure of a Russia-flagged oil tanker is part of a committed, ongoing effort by the Trump administration to make the flow of oil and gas easier to follow.
“It’s dramatic in terms of the way it’s being done, and it generates a potential confrontation with Russia, with China, with Iran, and others who are benefiting from this kind of activity,” he said. “But the role that the U.K. has played and the role that others have and will play in this is important in an effort to create greater transparency in the flow of oil and gas through the international markets, but especially in the revenues that come from them.”
