Editorial: A shady oil deal will hurt Venezuela and the US

Did Venezuela sell its soul to the Trump administration? A dubious oil deal in which the United States may be taking much of the South American country's rich oil reserves is a bad proposition for any government, unless its survival is the ultimate prize.

Will it reduce gas prices in the U.S.? Not likely, at least not for a while. Will it benefit the Venezuelan people? Highly unlikely.

This deal is a bad idea.

When the Trump administration made the bold move to remove Venezuela's dictator Nicolás Maduro in January, we were hopeful that the South American nation could finally return to a democratic path. We applauded the Trump administration for bringing a cruel and corrupt autocrat to U.S. justice.

But even then we were puzzled by President Donald Trump's remarks that the U.S. will be "running" Venezuela, contrary to the long-standing principle of a nation's right to self-determination and Venezuelans' decades-long fight for democracy.

This is why the recent announcement of an unprecedented oil agreement allowing the U.S. government to have a share of the country's oil reserves is deeply concerning. What could have been the beginning of a democratic transition now looks increasingly like a colonial takeover. The U.S. should not be running Venezuela and certainly not profiting from its natural resources.

The oil deal will give the Pentagon a stake in one-fifth of the country's oil reserves. As part of the agreement, the U.S. will create a private company to partner with North American Blue Energy Partners, Venezuela's second-largest oil operator. If this is not troubling enough, NABEP is owned by Alejandro Betancourt López, a man who has faced multiple investigations into money laundering and who is wanted by Swiss authorities. This is our partner.

It is highly unusual today for the U.S. government to have direct involvement in another country's natural resources. This is the sort of deal China does, with plenty of examples of the Asian nation taking advantage of its economic leverage.

The deeper you look at this arrangement, the shadier it is. It was carried out in secrecy, without any competitive bidding process. And it comes out months after a military operation extracted Maduro but basically left the same racket in control of the country. The Trump administration is dealing with an illegitimate government.

According to the White House, Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez signed off 100-year rights to develop 17 oil fields, with proven potential of 65 billion barrels. Rodríguez argues the oil deal will bring economic development to the country. It certainly allows her to buy time with her American handlers by removing incentives for the White House to press for a free election.

Even if the deal works, it will take years to be successful, given Venezuela's infrastructure decay, decades of mismanagement and rampant corruption.

This oil deal creates motivation for both the Trump administration and the Venezuelan government to delay free elections since a democratically elected government would likely scrutinize this deal. This is a huge mistake and a lost opportunity.

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This story was originally published September 8, 2026 at 6:12 AM.