Venezuela's Oil Deal With US Stirs Pride, Resentment

For over a century, oil has been the defining element of Venezuela's national identity. The belief that these vast resources belong to the people, not to any government or corporation, has been a constant through boom and bust. That deeply held conviction was shaken last week when acting President Delcy Rodríguez agreed to grant the United States control over roughly one-fifth of the country's oil reserves, the largest in the world.

While the agreement could eventually channel billions of dollars into an industry and economy crippled by years of mismanagement, many Venezuelans view it as a capitulation. Some see it as the culmination of a strategy that began when President Donald Trump ordered the capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro in January, leaving Rodríguez in charge.

"It's not just worrying, it's outrageous, because we, like a drop in the ocean, have no power to intervene," said Lisandro Castro, an architect in Caracas. "There is genuine collective concern in Venezuela right now about what we are witnessing."

The emotional connection to oil runs deep. The industry's discovery in the 1920s transformed a poor, agrarian nation into an urbanized regional power. U.S. companies popularized baseball, European immigrants built bakeries and designed buildings, and the state used oil revenues to fund everything from cheap gasoline to scholarships and free surgeries. The nationalization of the industry under Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) was seen as a triumph of national sovereignty.

"Every Venezuelan sees oil as something they have the right to claim," said Ronal Rodríguez, a researcher at the Venezuela Observatory at Colombia's Universidad del Rosario.

The industry's decline, driven by falling prices, corruption, and mismanagement, led to a dire economic crisis. Millions have emigrated, and those who remain struggle with soaring inflation. Public sector workers earn roughly $160 per month.

"Something is better than nothing," said Romel Abreu, a former oil worker now employed as a security guard in Cabimas, the heart of the oil industry. "If we didn't have it, we would be fried."

Under the deal, the U.S. is entering a joint venture with Venezuela's North American Blue Energy Partners, the second-largest private oil company in the country. The venture will have 100-year rights over 17 oil fields with proven reserves of 65 billion barrels, out of a national total estimated at 300 billion.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the mission is to bring "peace, freedom, opportunity and prosperity" to Venezuela. Rodríguez defended the agreement, expressing a desire for her country to become an "energy powerhouse."

In Cabimas, residents are left with cautious hope. "Well, on the one hand, one feels and thinks that one of the largest oil reserves has been handed over," said Erwin Ayala, an oil company worker. "But if it's for the good of the country and for future generations, then yes, we agree with that, because what good is having so much oil ... if there's no machinery, no technology, to extract it?"