Inside the US Takeover of Venezuelan Oil

Nine months after the US abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a highly unusual oil deal has surfaced. The US claims to have struck an agreement to take control of about a fifth of Venezuela’s oil reserves. But this isn’t a standard international trade agreement; it’s structured through a Barbados-based private company owned by a controversial businessman, with the US Department of Defense taking a 35% stake.

In this episode, we sit down with Francisco Rodríguez, a Venezuelan economist and author of The Collapse of Venezuela: Scorched-Earth Politics and Economic Decline. Rodríguez dismantles the mechanics of this unprecedented $100 billion deal, explaining why major oil companies are nowhere to be found and why Venezuela is currently shipping 40,000 barrels of oil to the US at cost.

Chapters: 

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:03:00 – The Barbados Company and the Missing $100 Billion

00:05:00 – Replenishing the US Strategic Reserve at Venezuela’s Expense

00:07:00 – Bypassing Venezuelan Law and the National Assembly

00:09:00 – Comparisons to the 1996 Russian Privatization

00:13:00 – Hugo Chávez and the Origins of Economic Collapse

00:18:00 – The Devastating Impact of US Sanctions

00:22:00 – The Opposition’s “Faustian Bargain” with Washington

00:25:00 – “Regime Compliance” and the Future of US Intervention

Credits:

Presented by Aman Sethi

Produced by Harry Beney