"THE PACE of change is breath-taking. On January 3rd United States special forces captured Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s dictator. On January 6th Donald Trump said Venezuela would be “turning over” 30m to 50m barrels of oil to the United States. Two days later the regime said it would release “a significant number” of political prisoners. The next day an American delegation arrived in Caracas, the capital, to work on reopening the embassy. A Venezuelan team is expected to head to Washington, with Mr Trump saying he would meet them “pretty soon”.

A crucial question is whether Mr Trump will “run” Venezuela down the barrel of a gun—he initially threatened interim president Delcy Rodríguez with a fate worse than Mr Maduro’s if she didn’t comply with his plans for the country—or whether he might be more collaborative. The latter may signal an intention to let Ms Rodríguez settle in for a longer period, an alarming prospect for Venezuela’s democratic opposition. Setting aside the bluster there is clear evidence, especially from the emerging deal on oil, of collaboration.

Mr Trump initially framed the arrangement as pure coercion. Officials in Caracas spun it as a “simple sale, a commercial transaction”. The Economist has spoken to a range of oil executives, financiers and traders to assess the possible contours of the scheme. Much remains uncertain and could change, but the deal appears to be mutually advantageous, albeit with some coercive elements."

https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2026/01/10/donald-trumps-venezuela-oil-deal-is-already-up-and-running

#USA #Trump #Venezuela #Oil #BigOil #FossilFuels #Imperialism