Bomb: Trump announces intervention in the Venezuelan oil industry

After Maduro’s capture, Trump says the US will be “heavily involved” in Venezuela’s oil industry

In a statement that should redesign the geopolitical and energy landscape of the Americas, Donald Trump announced that the country will become “very heavily” involved in Venezuela’s oil industry. The statement was made in an interview with Fox News this Saturday, after the successful operation to capture the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Direct and characteristic, Trump made clear his intention to use American corporate power to assume a central role in the deficient Venezuelan oil sector after years of crisis and sanctions.

“We have the biggest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the best, and we are going to be very involved in this”, declared the president to the broadcaster.

The declaration represents the most explicit public articulation of what many analysts had already speculated: a post-Maduro plan that would place Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world, at the center of the country’s reconstruction strategy, under strong North American influence.

Context and consequences

The interview takes place at a time of extreme tension in the region. The US government, along with more than 50 countries, does not recognize Maduro as a legitimate president, having recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó in 2019. Washington maintains a strict sanctions regime that practically prohibits any transaction with the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), strangling the regime’s main source of revenue.

Trump’s proposal, however, goes beyond sanctions and points to a direct occupation of the sector by international corporations. Experts warn that such a move would be interpreted not just as a regime change, but as a direct economic intervention, with profound repercussions.

In Venezuela, the declaration should serve both as an incentive for the opposition and as ammunition for the propaganda of the Maduro government, which for years has accused the US of coveting national oil.

However, the measure may encounter resistance from traditional allies concerned with international law and sovereignty, in addition to worsening relations with powers that support Maduro, such as Russia and China, which also have billion-dollar interests and investments in the Venezuelan energy sector.

In the oil market, the massive entry of North American capital and technology could, in the long term, revitalize Venezuelan production and impact global oil prices, realigning the flow of suppliers to the US.

Reactions and next steps

So far, there are no operational details on how this “strong” involvement would take place. Trump’s statement explicitly places oil as the final prize of a regime change operation, a framework that is likely to dominate the diplomatic debate and intensify the crisis in Venezuela in the coming weeks. The international community now awaits the practical consequences of a promise that can redefine the future of a country and its most coveted wealth.