Which government will U.S. recognize?

The Trump administration’s decision to park $500 million of Venezuelan oil revenue in Qatar raises fundamental questions about the South American nation’s future after the U.S. captured former President Nicolás Maduro.

Among them: When will a transition of power take place, who will ultimately govern Venezuela and who controls the country’s vast resources?

Right now, the administration is collaborating closely with the remnants of the Maduro regime under the leadership of interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

The problem is that the U.S. does not officially recognize the government that Rodriguez is leading. President Donald Trump during his first term recognized the opposition-led National Assembly elected in 2015 as the only legitimate representative of the Venezuelan people.

Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 9 that requires the proceeds from Venezuela’s oil sales to be held in a U.S. Treasury Department account. The president’s order states that the money is the sovereign property of the government of Venezuela held in custody by the U.S.

But it’s unclear which Venezuelan government the order is referencing.

Once the money arrives in the U.S., it should in theory be under the control of the opposition National Assembly due to Trump’s 2019 recognition, said Scott Anderson, an international law expert who previously served with the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad under President Barack Obama.

This poses potential problems for the administration’s cooperation with Rodriguez. She has agreed to ship 50 million barrels of crude oil to the U.S. The Trump administration is controlling the sale of those barrels. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said this arrangement will continue indefinitely to maintain leverage over Caracas to implement reforms.

Democrats, meanwhile, are questioning whether the arrangement is legal.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress the decision was made to hold the money in Qatar while the issue of government recognition is resolved. Qatar recognizes the Maduro regime as the legitimate government of Venezuela, allowing the U.S. to avoid the issue in the short term.

“We have an issue we’re working through on recognition,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 28.

“You have to recognize a government, but we don’t recognize this government,” the secretary of State said. “We recognize the 2015 National Assembly, so we have to find some creative way legally to meet that standard.”

A Trump administration official told CNBC that an account has been set up for the government of Venezuela at the Treasury Department and “future revenues derived from the sale of Venezuela natural resources will come into and go out of the account.” The initial $500 million in revenue held in Qatar has since been transferred to Venezuela, the official said.

The Trump administration will probably have to work out an arrangement with the 2015 National Assembly on how the oil money will be spent,…