Venezuela’s oil is becoming more than an energy asset; it is emerging as an instrument in a wider contest for influence across Latin America. The agreement announced by US President Donald Trump on 28th August brings more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan reserves into a partnership that Trump says gives the American side “majority control,” while Venezuela’s interim government, led by Delcy Rodríguez, insists the 25-year deal preserves national sovereignty. 

That tension between American control and Venezuelan sovereignty lies at the heart of a broader geopolitical struggle over who will shape the country’s economic and strategic future.

The deal also fits into Washington’s renewed push to reassert primacy in the Western Hemisphere by securing access to energy, strategic resources and supply chains while limiting the influence of China, Russia, Iran and other external powers.

In this context, Venezuela is becoming a test case for a new form of US regional influence, one built not only through diplomacy and security ties, but through control of critical economic assets. 

In this context, Venezuela is becoming a test case for a new form of US regional influence, one built not only through diplomacy and security ties, but through control of critical economic assets. 

Caracas’s simultaneous opening toward Israel adds another layer to this realignment, raising the prospect that Venezuela’s transformation could reshape not only US influence in Latin America, but also the region’s wider geopolitical alignments.

🚨🔥 MAJOR BREAKING: Trump announces a historic U.S.-Venezuela oil agreement involving majority U.S. control of 65B barrels of proven reserves without taxpayer funding, according to his statement. 🇺🇸🛢️ A huge energy and economic move. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! 🇺🇸🔥 pic.twitter.com/lVa2BGFuxn — John _f_ Kennedy JR (@John_fk_jr7) August 28, 2026

🚨🔥 MAJOR BREAKING: Trump announces a historic U.S.-Venezuela oil agreement involving majority U.S. control of 65B barrels of proven reserves without taxpayer funding, according to his statement. 🇺🇸🛢️ A huge energy and economic move. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! 🇺🇸🔥 pic.twitter.com/lVa2BGFuxn

— John _f_ Kennedy JR (@John_fk_jr7) August 28, 2026

For Juan Contreras, Director of Venezuela’s Radio Al Son del 23, the agreement cannot be understood simply as an economic arrangement between Washington and Caracas. He argues that the deal represents part of a wider US effort to reassert political and strategic influence in Latin America through control over energy resources. In his view,

Venezuelan oil is being transformed from a national economic asset into a geopolitical instrument that could strengthen Washington’s position both in the Western Hemisphere and in its confrontation with Iran.

Venezuelan oil is being transformed from a national economic asset into a geopolitical instrument that could strengthen Washington’s position both in the Western Hemisphere and in its confrontation with Iran.

“The recent oil agreement does not represent sovereign cooperation or a fair exchange,” Contreras argues, describing it instead as the reaffirmation of what he sees as a neocolonial strategy. He accuses Washington of using energy policy, sanctions, economic........

© Middle East Monitor