Only eight months ago, the United States conducted a dramatic and historic midnight op in Venezuela that snatched El President\u00e9 Dictat\u00f3r and narco-terrorist final boss Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2014 and hauled him to face justice in the U.S. You\u2019re fired.<\/p>\n
Since January, U.S. officials have been working closely with what\u2019s left of Venezuela\u2019s government at breakneck speed. The day following Maduro\u2019s capture, Caracas\u2019s public tone shifted noticeably from \u201cDeath to Yankees!\u201d to \u201cWould Se\u00f1or Yankee like the corner office?\u201d The U.S. has intercepted the country\u2019s oil revenues and, like a parent putting a teenager on a budget, is carefully doling them back to Caracas to ensure the funds are used to benefit the Venezuelan people.<\/p>\n
Hardest hit were the Chinese, Russians, Cubans, and Democrats\u2014 all of whom Maduro used to snuggle up with. They\u2019ve been advised strongly to \u201cget the Flock out of the Western Hemisphere and stay where you belong.\u201d The Cubans are still trying to figure out how to move the island.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, President Trump threw another monkey wrench into global geopolitics and Democrat ambitions by announcing a 100-year deal with Venezuela in which America gets the right to buy Venezuela\u2019s vast oil reserves at no cost to the American taxpayer. It\u2019s a very big deal, which he modestly called \u201cthe biggest oil deal in world history!\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump posted that the deal will put America in control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.<\/p>\n
\u201cVenezuela is thought to have the world\u2019s largest oil reserves,\u201d the article explained. The 65 billion-barrel bonanza \u201cis almost as much as all of the proven reserves in the United States, which is the world\u2019s biggest oil producer,\u201d the Times said.<\/p>\n
In short, the world\u2019s biggest oil producer just got hold of the world\u2019s largest oil reserves. Of course, the Times lied, because the U.S.\u2019s reserves are around 41 billion, so Venezuela\u2019s are +41% bigger, not \u201calmost as much.\u201d But whatever.<\/p>\n
Venezuela\u2019s acting president, former vice-president Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, said the deal would revive her country. Nothing accelerates a South American leader\u2019s journey toward the free market like watching her predecessor get removed from it shackled to a Black Hawk. \u201cThe deal involves the development of 17 oil fields,\u201d the Times explained, \u201cmore than $100 billion of investments and projected taxes of $209 billion for Venezuela\u2019s strapped government.\u201d<\/p>\n
For comparison, Venezuela\u2019s national government just proposed a 2026 budget of about $20 billion. So the projected new taxes from just the 17 oil fields exceed the country\u2019s entire annual budget more than 10 times over. Not too shabby. It\u2019s a lot better than Venezuela\u2019s previous socialist model of nationalizing the oil industry, which produced the exceptional result of empty grocery shelves and toilet paper shortages.<\/p>\n
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it a \u201chuge win for both the American and Venezuelan people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Art of the Deal. In our lifetimes, we\u2019ll never have another president like this one.<\/p>\n
The actual terms of the deal, the fine print, have not yet been disclosed. But at least one as-yet-unnamed \u201cexperienced\u201d U.S. oil company \u2014probably Chevron, which already operates in Venezuela\u2014 will also participate as a joint venturer with the U.S. The revolution will not be televised. It will be operated by an experienced private contractor.<\/p>\n
The usual suspects are already complaining bitterly. The Times sneered that Venezuela has become \u201csomething resembling a client state.\u201d But this deal is not colonialism. It is a strategic hemispheric energy partnership with an unusually assertive onboarding process.<\/p>\n
Previous presidents preferred to describe overseas adventures as efforts to advance peace, democracy, and the sacred right of bureaucrats to attend swanky NGO conferences. But Trump just said oil, saving taxpayers an estimated nine syllables per barrel.<\/p>\n
The United States will now control more proven oil than it already has at home. In strategic terms, we have acquired a backup America in case the original one forgets its password.<\/p>\n
JEFF CHILDERS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Only eight months ago, the United States conducted a dramatic and historic midnight op in Venezuela that snatched El President\u00e9 Dictat\u00f3r and narco-terrorist final boss Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2014 and hauled him to face justice in the U.S. You\u2019re fired. Since January, … Continue reading