> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Inside the US Takeover of Venezuelan Oil
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/inside-the-us-takeover-of-venezuelan-oil/
- Published: 2026-09-09T12:33:54.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-09T12:45:51.000Z
- Description: Nine months after the US abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a highly unusual oil deal has surfaced.
- Author: Aman Sethi
- Tags: In Solidarity, podcasts, Venezuela, Oil, Capitalism, United States, Donald Trump

| [ Listen on Spotify ](https://open.spotify.com/show/2T5vrJmBgCIof17pp9LMWM?ref=opendemocracy.net) | [ Listen on Apple Podcasts ](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-solidarity-by-opendemocracy/id1790866829?ref=opendemocracy.net) |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

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