During recent “secret negotiations” with the Trump Administration, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro reportedly offered to open all current and future oil and gold projects to American companies, grant preferential contracts to U.S. businesses, redirect Venezuelan oil exports from China to the United States, and drastically reduce his country’s energy and mining partnerships with China, Iran, and Russia. According to an exclusive report from The New York Times, the U.S. government rejected the proposal and has since suspended all further diplomatic talks with Venezuela.