Richard M. Sanders
Coaxing US oil companies back to investing in Venezuela won’t be as easy as it seems to Donald Trump.
President Donald Trump’s remarks following the seizure of Nicolás Maduro made it clear that oil was key to the decision-making process that led to this action and will be integral to US policies as it seeks to shape Venezuela’s future. But as we enter this new phase, we would do well to remember the history here. Oil has long been crucial to US relations with the South American country, which has passed through two major cycles of foreign investment in the sector, followed by nationalizations.
Oil has also been fundamental to Venezuela’s internal politics, providing the resources for a long period of stable democracy, and then, when global prices crashed, paving the way for the leftist “Bolivarian” dictatorship of Hugo Chávez and Maduro, his handpicked successor.
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