Trump Administration

Trump's Venezuela Oil Deal Sells Out Democracy and Free Markets

The Trump administration isn't trying to end socialism in Venezuela. Instead, it is doing socialism in Venezuela.

Eric Boehm | 9.2.2026 2:10 PM

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(Photo: Wenbin Yu/Dreamstime. Illustration: Fatima Ruiz/Midjourney)

Just days after the U.S. military captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in early January, Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined the Trump administration's plans for the future of the South American country.

Rubio described a three-stage process. First would be "stabilization of the country," which would include President Donald Trump's biggest priority: seizing oil reserves. "We are going to take between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil," Rubio said in January.

Then would come the latter stages of the plan, which Rubio described as "recovery" (opening up Venezuelan markets) and, lastly, a political "transition" toward new leaders.

Those remarks—and the order of Rubio's priorities—are worth revisiting in light of last week's announcement that the U.S. would be, in President Trump's terms, taking "control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela."

According to The Wall Street Journal, the deal includes a 100-year lease of some Venezuelan oil fields. The oil will be extracted by what is technically a new private company—but the U.S.........

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