Venezuelan billionaire lands pentagon-backed oil deal amid past money-laundering probe
The arrangement gives the United States a 35% stake in North American Blue Energy Partners and preferential access to 20% of its oil, officials said.
- President Donald Trump's administration struck a sweeping oil arrangement with Venezuelan entrepreneur Alejandro Betancourt, securing a 35% stake in his company, North American Blue Energy Partners, to manage Venezuelan crude reserves.
- Betancourt emerged as a central U.S. partner after providing intelligence that assisted the January 3 operation removing former President Nicolas Maduro, despite facing earlier international money-laundering investigations.
- Federal prosecutors in Miami paused their investigation into Betancourt in recent months, with sources alleging pressure from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche; the Justice Department called such claims a "complete fabrication."
- The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital gains a 35% stake in NABEP, while the State Department secures the right to purchase 20% of oil at cost with preferential access to the remaining 80% of output.
- Former Trump official Elliott Abrams criticized the alliance, calling Betancourt "the most shadowy and repellent Venezuelan businessman," though administration officials defend him as a "proven operator" essential for energy assets.
52 Articles
52 Articles
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Despite doubts about the origin of his fortune and his ties to chavismo, Washington chose businessman Alejandro Betancourt to explore the 17 oil deposits included in the pact signed with the interim government of Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez.
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TerraThe billionaire who helped broker the Trump government's comprehensive long-term oil deal with Venezuela was, until recently, the target of U.S. investigations into money laundering involving diverted funds from the state oil company PDVSA. Now, after collaborating with the U.S. authorities before the capture of authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro, Alejandro Betancourt is Washington's main partner in an unusual oil deal with Caracas. According t…
The Pentagon Oil Fund. The US Department of Defense is turning into a multinational resource fund and is directly entering the South American bowels
The Pentagon Oil FundThe US Department of Defense is turning into a multinational resource fund and is directly entering the South American bowels.The main beneficiary and shadow operator of large-scale agreements on Venezuelan oil is now the American...
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