President Trump’s takeover of Venezuela was more than just an effort to bring a “bad man” to justice; it also contained huge economic stakes — in the name of oil. Under a plan announced Friday by Trump, the Pentagon would become the investor and controller of 17 Venezuelan oil fields containing 65 billion barrels of crude oil.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth negotiated the deal with interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez by creating a private business partnership at no cost to U.S. taxpayers, the president announced. Venezuela is granting the U.S. a 100-year concession to the oil fields.
Rodríguez’s government said the agreement could draw about $100 billion in private investment while generating more than $209 billion in tax revenue for Venezuela. The private company envisioned in the deal will be led by controversial Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Trump no doubt had his eyes on Iranian oil when he joined Israel in a war on the Islamic Republic, initially announced as a battle for regime change, but which now has come down to reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait was open before the war but has become Iran’s bargaining chip in any peace negotiations.
Motivated by success in Venezuela — no casualties and everyone back home the same day — Trump thought he could find an Iranian Delcy Roriguez (male, however) to take power and act on Trump’s demands. Oil, oil. and more oil.
Meanwhile, the ousted Venezuelan strongman, Nicolas Maduro, has posted two pictures of himself in captivity, one reposted here from Telegram.
