Reports that US wants big stake in Venezuelan oil and gas spark anger

NEW: The US is reportedly in 'advanced talks' to claim a direct stake in more than a dozen Venezuelan oilfields holding 90bn barrels, sparking anger from opposition figures who call the move 'predatory' and 'unconstitutional'.

The US wants a direct stake in ninety billion barrels of Venezuelan oil.

That's the Wall Street Journal report, advanced talks with Caracas over more than a dozen oilfields in the Orinoco Belt and around Lake Maracaibo, nearly a third of Venezuela's reserves. And remember, this is the country with the largest proven crude reserves on Earth, bigger than Saudi Arabia's. This is the kind of infrastructure on the table, and the tankers are already sitting offshore.

Bloomberg says one version being discussed is a hundred year lease. A hundred years. Context matters here. American special forces grabbed Nicolás Maduro in January, and Washington has effectively steered the country since, with Delcy Rodríguez, his former vice president and oil minister, installed as interim president.

The opposition is furious, calling it predatory and unconstitutional. They were promised political change. What they're reading about instead looks less like a trade deal and more like an acquisition.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.