Following the dramatic arrest of autocratic leader Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in January, many in Venezuela anticipated a steep price would follow.
On Friday, the full cost materialized when Trump declared that the United States would secure a majority stake in a substantial portion of Venezuela’s oil reserves, assets long regarded by many citizens as a birthright.
By Saturday, many Venezuelan citizens were confronting the question of whether they were prepared to bear that price. So far, the removal of the autocrat has produced little tangible change: Maduro’s successor, Delcy Rodríguez, continues to hold power, millions remain mired in poverty, chronic electricity outages persist, and no election date has been announced.
The agreement promises substantial investment, yet many Venezuelan citizens are demanding broader economic and political reforms. The deal offers no guarantee of such change and may instead solidify the alliance between Trump and Rodríguez, further consolidating her authority.
In Valencia, a city roughly two hours from Caracas, 68‑year‑old retired educator José Leal argued that the promised $100 billion U.S. investment pales in comparison to the 65 billion barrels of oil Venezuela is ceding. Nevertheless, after decades under a repressive regime, he expressed willingness to accept the arrangement—hoping that Trump would press for democratic transformation.
“Obviously, the United States gains immensely,” he noted. Yet, he emphasized, “the Americans hold the reins. Without them, we cannot dismantle the socialist legacies of Chávez and Maduro; without them, we risk remaining shackled like Cuba, China, or North Korea.”
“I do not love it nor even like it,” he remarked about the agreement. “I view it as a necessary evil. If we can finally extricate ourselves from this 27‑year catastrophe—mirrored by Cuba’s 68‑year ordeal—then, despite my dislike, it will have been worthwhile.”
Other voices were far less hopeful. The Venezuelan administration has historically awarded lucrative contracts to a privileged elite—known domestically as the “enfuchados,” or those “plugged in”—while ordinary citizens endure hardship. Friday’s announcement by Trump made no reference to a democratic transition.
A meme spread across the region moments after the agreement was unveiled. In a cartoon, a Venezuelan man says, “I want you to eliminate Chavismo and leave us our oil.”
A cartoon version of Trump replies, “Take the oil and leave you with Chavismo, got it!”
Venezuela, which possesses some of the world’s largest oil reserves, nationalized its hydrocarbon resources in the 1970s. Sovereignty over those fields subsequently became a cornerstone of the socialist agenda pioneered by former president Hugo Chávez.
Rodríguez’s choice to cede a large share of that oil to Washington marked a stunning reversal—something few had envisioned prior to the January operation.
The shift was reflected in a Saturday statement from Rodríguez’s Socialist Party, asserting that “true to its historic dedication to national sovereignty,” the party wholly endorsed the agreement and Rodríguez’s decisions.
Many Venezuelan observers noted the stark irony: a regime that once defiantly opposed Washington now relinquishing the resources central to its identity.
Another meme making the rounds altered the national oil company’s logo, transforming PDVSA into PDUSA.
On X (formerly Twitter), Rafael Ramírez—a longtime Chávez ally and former PDVSA chief now in exile—accused Rodríguez of “opening the doors to a new form of U.S. colonialism.”
In Maracaibo, a city pivotal to the nation’s oil sector, 67‑year‑old former PDVSA manager Dario Nava expressed opposition to the deal, doubting it would enhance his circumstances.
“The United States will manage our oil industry,” he warned, “and with that, sovereignty is lost.”
In Caracas, 24‑year‑old university student Carlos Arenas said he could consider relinquishing some control over Venezuelan oil in exchange for economic gains.
“If the country stood to gain a tangible economic benefit that would improve the lives of its citizens, then yes, I would be open to it,” he said. “But that does not appear to be the immediate outcome—certainly not at first.”
“Unfortunately, political change in Venezuela seems unlikely in the near term,” he added. “Trump appears quite comfortable with Delcy.”
Venezuela’s foremost opposition leader, María Corina Machado, had previously proposed privatizing the oil sector—a notion her party long ridiculed. The idea proved so contentious that Machado refrained from making it a central plank of her 2024 presidential campaign.
On Saturday, Walter Molina, a prominent Machado supporter, posted on X that “Venezuelans have always known that our freedom would come at a price.”
“If that price amounts to 65 billion barrels over the coming decades, so be it,” he stated. “But let it be precisely the cost of our freedom—not the price for sustaining a criminal tyranny in power, now merely bowing before the United States.”
Additional reporting by María Victoria Fermín (Caracas), Tibisay Romero (Valencia, Venezuela) and Sheyla Urdaneta (Buenos Aires).
