The wrong way to revive Venezuela’s economy
Financial Times · 2026-09-02
The US is pursuing an "unorthodox dealmaking" approach to revive Venezuela's depleted oil sector, rather than pushing for early democratic elections. This strategy, described as "state capitalism," involves the US taking a 35% stake in North American Blue Energy Partners, an oil business owned by controversial Venezuelan figure Alejandro Betancourt. Betancourt's company has been granted a concession covering 17 oilfields and approximately one-fifth of Venezuela's reserves. The US government views this deal, held through the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital, as a way to provide a bypass for oil companies hesitant to invest directly through Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA, as well as offering a form of guarantee. However, the deal faces legal questions in both the US and Venezuela, with Democrats in Congress calling it an abuse of power, and concerns raised about Betancourt's history of becoming wealthy under the Chávez regime. Critics argue that major oil investments require political stability and a high level of confidence, which a deal involving Betancourt and lacking a democratically elected Venezuelan government does not provide.