Washington and Caracas announce "historic" agreement: the US will control most of Venezuelan oil

BarcelonaDonald Trump is in great need of good news to sell to his electorate, and this Friday he finally has one. "The US has just closed a deal with Venezuela: the largest oil deal in world history," the president wrote on his social network, euphoric about a deal that gives the United States majority control of the more than 65 billion barrels of oil that are estimated to be part of Venezuela's reserves. The agreement, announced by Donald Trump and confirmed by Delcy Rodríguez, will allow the US to double its oil reserves.

When at the beginning of the year the US carried out a surprise action to break into Caracas and kidnap President Maduro, and an intervention was initiated that did not seek a regime change, Washington did not hesitate to affirm that the reason for the coup was none other than the control of Venezuela's oil reserves, a former oil power in decline but with enormous potential. On Friday, Trump stated: "The historic transaction more than doubles U.S. oil reserves, considerably increases our oil supply, and substantially reduces the price of gasoline for all U.S. citizens." Thus, the ulterior motives for the micro-invasion of Venezuela became crystal clear.

According to the North American press, the agreement will allow large multinationals such as Chevron and Halliburton to invest billions of dollars in Venezuela's oil fields, in a deplorable state after years of sanctions and lack of investment. The agreement, directly led by the Pentagon and the State Department, with the direct participation of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez, will be signed next week in Caracas. Trump, who claims this will strengthen relations with Venezuela, has described Rodríguez as a "valid interlocutor." Since the military intervention in January, the two countries have moved from initial distrust to a normalization of relations. Rodríguez has called the agreement "historic" and thanked Trump for "his willingness in developing an alliance that represents a milestone in bilateral relations." The agreement will generate revenues of over 200 billion dollars for Venezuela, according to Rodríguez.

Private sector

Trump has described the agreement as "an alliance with the private sector." Rubio has calculated the investment to be carried out in Venezuela at 100 billion dollars, "which will support thousands of well-paid jobs and boost the economy's reconstruction" of the country, in a critical situation, especially following the devastating earthquakes in June. According to him, the agreement demonstrates "that President Trump's bold foreign policy is achieving milestones under the principle 'America First.'"

The agreement represents a highly unusual foray into another country's oil fields through an alliance with a private company. According to the State Department, this company is linked to Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt López. According to Rodríguez, the objective of the agreement is to put its "immense reserves at the service of national development." He assured that it would attract more than 100 billion dollars in investments and generate about 209 billion dollars for the Venezuelan government, which is suffering from a severe lack of resources and is trying to improve living conditions after the earthquakes in June left more than 6,500 dead.

Details, however, are scarce and the text of the agreement has not yet been made public. In Venezuela, Betancourt is known as a bolichico, a term referring to Venezuelan businessmen favored by the government who have become enormously wealthy under Chavismo. Washington has placed Venezuelan oil at the center of its strategy to expand the influence of the American continent's energy resources, increasing production to compensate for the loss of Middle Eastern oil due to the war with Iran.