'Venezuela is Uninvestable' - Unless it's Free for US Oil
U.S. oil companies are reportedly hesitant to commit to massive new investments in Venezuela, even after a US-backed push to oust President Nicolás Maduro. Axios frames this as corporate caution, but ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips aren't 'noncommittal'; they're waiting for the explicit green light to simply seize assets. Trump's assurance: 'You're not dealing with Venezuela or we don't want you to
deal with Venezuela'—a remarkable admission of intent, suggesting the US government would handle all pesky legalities and ownership claims directly, ensuring corporate profits without the burden of sovereign nations. This isn't 'investment'; it's a corporate wish list for resource appropriation, thinly disguised as rebuilding. Venezuelan nationalization of oil under Hugo Chávez two decades
ago—which expropriated assets from these very companies—is the 'uninvestable' past they want to erase. The 'significant changes to commercial frameworks' CEO Darren Woods demands translates to dismantling Venezuela's national sovereignty over its own resources. The question isn't if they'll invest, but when the 'security guarantees' will be sufficient to finalize extraction, all under the guise of
'freeing' Venezuela.