Trump’s Venezuela Oil Deal: Imperialism by Contract

Washington did not remove Venezuela’s president merely to change its government; it is now constructing a system of economic control designed to outlast the politicians who created it.

From Regime Change to Resource Control

An extraordinary investigation published by ProPublica on October 20 reveals the terms of an 18-page strategic partnership agreement signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The agreement gives Washington a 35 percent stake in the parent company of North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), a private Venezuelan oil company headed by billionaire Alejandro Betancourt. It also grants the United States the right to purchase 20 percent of the company’s production at a discounted price of $30 per barrel, alongside priority purchasing rights over the remaining production for 50 years.

The agreement’s significance extends beyond these commercial privileges. Its governance arrangements appear deliberately structured to protect American interests against future political interference. A majority of the company’s seven-member board must be American citizens, while no provision requires Venezuelan government representation. The initial board will determine how its successors are selected, and removing Betancourt as chief executive requires a supermajority vote.

These provisions reveal something important about the changing character of American imperialism. Washington is not seeking formal territorial annexation. Instead, it is using corporate ownership, contractual privileges, and institutional safeguards to establish influence over another country’s strategic resources.

The distinction matters. Imperialism has never depended exclusively on territorial conquest. Its defining feature has often been the unequal distribution of power between states, particularly the ability of powerful countries to shape the economic choices available to weaker ones.

Venezuela offers an........

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