by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow
The Daily Sentinel
America’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro has commentators arguing about what to do with the country’s oil. In many ways, it’s the wrong argument. Global political and market forces will ultimately determine whose cars and factories benefit. However, the future of the country and its industry will not be determined by the fate of its oil, but by what happens to the money.
More than 68% of Venezuela’s oil production has been going to China, about 23% to the U.S., and 4% each to Cuba and Spain. The Trump administration has a different plan for the future of that oil, assuming the infrastructure can be rebuilt. The system was neglected, robbed, and ignored by a regime focused on drugs instead. President Trump wants major oil companies to go do what they do best, though several are reluctant to invest in the country that twice stole all the facilities they built. Eventually, though, some will make the investment because the resource is too big to ignore.
With more than 300 billion barrels of proven reserves, Venezuela has more oil than any other country. If produced, the economic impact could be almost unimaginable. It represents not only an economic opportunity, but also means for addressing severe shortages of food, medicine and basic services, the inevitable result of corruption. That economic opportunity is where the debate ought to be.
It is a chance to create a new system, in which the people of Venezuela have a personal stake in a political process that preserves freedom, democracy, and private enterprise. That does not require American military action — it requires a different vision for the money. It is not the first time we have seen such opportunity.
