A March phone call from former Trump Latin America envoy Mauricio Claver-Carone led Alejandro Betancourt to agree immediately to a U.S. partnership, telling him, “I’m all in,” according to the Washington Post.
The administration wanted a piece of Betancourt’s North American Blue Energy Partners, with Betancourt surrendering some ownership and allowing Trump administration picks onto the board.
The deal drew scrutiny because Betancourt was arrested twice in Britain in 2025 after Spain and Switzerland sought him over money-laundering cases, though Swiss authorities later withdrew their extradition request.
A senior State Department official then pushed the U.S. Consulate in London to issue Betancourt a one-year multiple-entry visa in June, and officials said he has since traveled repeatedly to Washington to finalize the arrangement.
The partnership has split Trump-era foreign-policy figures, with former official Elliott Abrams denouncing Betancourt as a “shadowy” businessman even as current officials called him a useful operator for U.S. aims in Venezuela.
How will Washington secure 100-year rights to Venezuela's oil without triggering a massive geopolitical backlash over sovereign resource control?
Why is the U.S. risking direct equity in a controversial oil firm instead of relying on traditional diplomatic strategies?
Can a private partnership truly overcome decades of severe infrastructure decay to unlock billions of barrels of heavy crude?
The 2026 U.S.-Venezuela Oil Pact: Pentagon Equity, $100 Billion Investment, and the Risks of a Modern Colonial Concession
Overview
After the US-Iran war in early 2026 caused a spike in global oil prices and political backlash at home, the Trump administration struck a secretive deal with Venezuela’s interim government, granting the US control over vast oil reserves to stabilize fuel supplies. This agreement relied on controversial businessman Alejandro Betancourt, whose legal troubles were resolved through US intervention to secure his role as intermediary. However, Betancourt’s reputation and unresolved past expropriations have made major oil companies wary, while the deal’s lack of democratic legitimacy and legal clarity leaves it vulnerable to reversal by future Venezuelan or US governments, risking stranded investments and public unrest.