- Pentagon partners with Venezuelan businessman under international money laundering investigations.
- Deal grants 100-year oil concessions in exchange for Pentagon investment stake.
- U.S. officials pressured foreign governments to ease scrutiny of the partner.
- Critics compare arrangement to post-Soviet Russia oligarch deals.
- Production output increased tenfold since partner regained control.
The Trump administration's push to control Venezuela's oil reserves has put the federal government in business with a Venezuelan businessman who has faced years of international scrutiny, creating an unusual arrangement that pairs the Pentagon's investment arm with a figure linked to multiple foreign money laundering investigations.
Alejandro Betancourt, the leader of North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), is the administration's chosen partner for a deal to develop oil fields estimated to hold 65 billion barrels of crude. The arrangement, announced in recent weeks, gives the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital a 35 percent stake in NABEP while granting the company 100-year concessions to operate 17 Venezuelan oil fields.
Business partner's legal history draws Democratic criticism
Betancourt has faced investigations in Switzerland, Spain and the United States into alleged money laundering, though he has never been charged with a crime in any jurisdiction. British authorities arrested him last November on a Swiss warrant and imposed travel restrictions.
The Washington Post reported that U.S. officials pushed to avoid criminal charges and end travel restrictions for Betancourt. Additional reporting has detailed how officials worked to persuade Swiss counterparts not to pursue extradition and asked Britain to loosen the travel restrictions imposed on him — a request British authorities eventually granted.
Some members of Congress have raised alarms, though the criticism has so far come largely from Democrats. Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) wrote on social media that "the closer you look, the shadier it gets," pointing to the State Department's backing of Betancourt and pressure on foreign governments to scale back investigations. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) sent a letter to the White House Friday calling for "a full accounting of why he was selected as a partner."
Federal prosecutors in Miami recently closed their investigation into Betancourt on direction from then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, two people with knowledge of the matter said. A Justice Department spokesperson denied Blanche personally intervened, calling the claim "a complete fabrication."
Administration defends vetting process and deal structure
Rubio defended the partnership, saying Betancourt was vetted through U.S. channels and faces no domestic charges, and that NABEP has a proven production record. He said the deal will operate under new laws and oversight to ensure the money is handled properly. A federal official backed that account, and Betancourt's attorney, Jon Sale, said his client "denies any wrongdoing."
Rubio acknowledged the arrangement raises optics concerns given Betancourt's legal history, but noted that during Trump's first term, Betancourt fell out with Maduro's government over his support for opposition figures.
Deal marks a break from traditional U.S. oil diplomacy
The arrangement represents a sharp departure from traditional U.S. oil diplomacy. Rather than partnering with an established American company like Chevron, which has operated in Venezuela for decades, the administration chose a figure with deep ties to the country's authoritarian governments.
Critics have compared the arrangement to the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse, when Western interests struck deals with newly empowered Russian oligarchs to gain access to oil reserves. Venezuelan economist Francisco Rodríguez called the comparison apt, saying that in Russia, those same oligarchs amassed enormous wealth while propping up authoritarian rule.
Rafael Ramírez, a former Venezuelan energy minister, called the deal "grotesque" and "unsustainable in the long run," saying it was negotiated privately with a government that many Venezuelans do not consider legitimate.
European and U.S. prosecutors previously examined allegations that executives at Betancourt's company paid tens of millions of dollars in bribes to win government contracts. Separately, Venezuelan energy auditor José Aguilar found that the company overcharged state entities by more than $800 million on power-plant contracts through inflated fees — findings Aguilar has called the U.S. government's decision to partner with Betancourt "shameful."
Production track record complicates the picture
Betancourt first acquired a minority stake in the state-controlled Petrozamora oil field in 2011, lost it in a 2022 government purge, then regained control in 2024 through NABEP. Since then, the company has lifted output from 20,000 barrels per day to about 200,000, making it Venezuela's second-largest private oil producer, behind only Chevron's roughly 280,000 barrels per day.
Washington has spent years telling the public to trust the process on far smaller deals than this one. A 100-year concession, brokered quietly with a man still fending off money-laundering allegations, deserves more than a press briefing's worth of reassurance.
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