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The U.S. has struck a deal to take majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s oil reserves, nine months after the U.S. military abducted President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a raid on Caracas and two months after The New York Times revealed that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has become the de facto viceroy of Venezuela, effectively controlling Venezuela’s finances, the distribution of its natural resources and its government. The new oil deal gives the Department of Defense a 35% stake in a joint U.S.-Venezuelan private company that now holds 100-year leases to 17 oil fields. It also gives the U.S. the right to buy some of the oil produced at cost — a major triumph for the Trump administration as the war on Iran depletes the United States’ strategic oil reserves. Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez claims U.S. investment in Venezuela’s oil industry will jumpstart the country’s floundering economy, but critics, including Venezuelan economist Francisco Rodríguez, say the deal is not only “unfavorable to Venezuela” but also appears to violate the Venezuelan Constitution.

“The whole history around this is extremely shady,” adds Rodríguez, who previously led Venezuela’s Congressional Budget Office and now teaches at the University of Denver. “It’s clear that this is not a deal that any Venezuelan government would have entered into unless this country had been subject to an invasion, and unless its authorities had been held at gunpoint. So, I think we’ve replaced gunboat diplomacy now for gunpoint diplomacy.”

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Nine months after the U.S. military abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the first lady in a raid on Caracas, President Trump has announced a deal for the U.S. to take majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven oil reserves. In addition, the Pentagon will take partial ownership of a private firm at the center of the deal: North American Blue Energy Partners. Trump praised the deal Monday.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have a great relationship with Venezuela. It’s — you know, it’s a — it’s a team, in a sense, and we’re taking out millions and millions of barrels of oil, going to Houston, going to Louisiana, going to lots of different places in the United States and all over the world. And we’re doing — we’re making a fortune, and they’re making a fortune. They’re starting to make real money. And we have Exxon going in. We have Chevron going in. We have our big oil companies going in. And everybody’s bidding. … Related Story News | Politics & Elections Trump Says US Has Taken “Billions and Billions” From Venezuela and Iran Is Next He said that Congress should approve legislation to allow Venezuela’s funds to be rerouted to the US military. By Sharon Zhang , Truthout July 27, 2026 Truthout

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have a great relationship with Venezuela. It’s — you know, it’s a — it’s a team, in a sense, and we’re taking out millions and millions of barrels of oil, going to Houston, going to Louisiana, going to lots of different places in the United States and all over the world. And we’re doing — we’re making a fortune, and they’re making a fortune. They’re starting to make real money. And we have Exxon going in. We have Chevron going in. We have our big oil companies going in. And everybody’s bidding. …

Trump Says US Has Taken “Billions and Billions” From Venezuela and Iran Is Next

So, you know, we do a lot of things. Here’s a deal that nobody’s ever heard of a deal like that. It may be the greatest deal ever made. Who knows? But it’s millions and million. Already we’ve paid for the war. The cost of the war has been paid for many, many times before. Where have you heard that before? You didn’t hear that with........

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