In one of the scariest moments in modern history, we're doing our best at ScheerPost to pierce the fog of lies that conceal it but we need some help to pay our writers and staff. Please consider a tax-deductible donation.
Posted by Joshua Scher
Venezuela’s National Assembly has approved a sweeping overhaul of the country’s hydrocarbon law, dramatically rolling back state control over the oil industry while the Trump administration simultaneously moved to loosen selected sanctions on Caracas.
The reform, fast-tracked through the legislature and signed into law by Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, dismantles key pillars of the Chávez-era energy model that asserted state primacy over oil production. Under the new framework, private and foreign corporations gain far greater autonomy over extraction, operations, and sales, with royalties capped at 30 percent and a new executive-controlled “integrated hydrocarbon tax” replacing higher, fixed levies that once funded social programs.
Officials in Caracas framed the vote as a “historic” step to revive oil output after years of sanctions, financial strangulation, and a U.S. naval blockade imposed late last year. National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez claimed the reform would cause production to “skyrocket,” arguing that competitiveness and foreign capital were now essential for recovery. Rodríguez saying: “Today is a historic day for the Republic, because despite the adversities, we have been able to maintain our oil industry,” “By upholding the principles of sovereignty and independence, and the Republic’s ownership of its oil fields, we will make the sector more competitive by allowing the contracting of both national and foreign companies.”
Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez signed and enacted the law after the parliamentary session, claiming that the industry will be guided by “the best international practices” and undertake a “historic leap forward.”
But the timing leaves little doubt about where the initiative originated.
Within hours of the law’s passage, the U.S. Treasury issued a new sanctions waiver allowing American corporations to re-enter Venezuela’s oil sector under strict conditions. The license authorizes U.S. firms to purchase and market Venezuelan crude while requiring contracts to fall under U.S. jurisdiction and barring involvement by companies linked to Russia, Iran, Cuba, or North Korea—effectively placing Venezuela’s most valuable resource under Washington’s legal and political supervision.
Trump administration officials openly welcomed the reforms, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio praising Caracas for dismantling what he called “Chávez-era restrictions” on private investment. Trump himself said the United States was “very happy” with the changes and hinted that other allied countries could soon be invited to participate.
Critics argue the reforms amount to a fire sale conducted under duress.
Since 2017, U.S. sanctions and secondary penalties have crippled Venezuela’s oil industry, cutting off financing, exports, and access to equipment. Production collapsed, starving the state of revenue and creating the very crisis now cited to justify privatization. The new law also permits international arbitration and reduces PDVSA’s operational authority, further eroding national control over the sector that once financed Venezuela’s social safety net.
Even Western oil companies remain cautious. Chevron, currently the largest U.S. operator in Venezuela, has signaled it prefers to reinvest proceeds from oil sales rather than commit new capital, underscoring lingering concerns over political risk and the durability of Washington’s shifting sanctions policy.
What is being marketed as economic “reform,” critics say, looks more like a reordering of sovereignty—one in which sanctions are wielded not merely as punishment, but as leverage to force structural change and open strategic resources to U.S. capital on Washington’s terms.
Trump on the other hand is excited and offering good deals to China and India to invest rather than Iran with him saying “China is welcome to come in and will make a great deal on oil,” Trump told reporters during a flight to Mar-a-Lago on Air Force One. He added that the US is working with India on a deal to purchase Venezuelan oil. “India’s coming in and they’re going to be buying Venezuelan oil, as opposed to buying it from Iran,” he said. “We’ve already made the deal, the concept of that deal.”
As Venezuela’s oil fields reopen, the question is less whether investment will return than who ultimately controls the world’s largest proven reserves—and at what cost to Venezuelan self-determination. And a larger question of what is going to happen to Cuba, a country now facing the threat of collapse under Trump’s Donroe machinations?
for more on that here:
-
‘US Siege Is Warfare’: Cuba Faces Second Nationwide Blackout in Under a Week
Editor’s Note: At a moment when the once vaunted model of responsible journalism is overwhelmingly the play thing of self-serving billionaires and their corporate scribes, alternatives of integrity are desperately needed, and ScheerPost is one of them. Please support our independent journalism by contributing to our online donation platform, Network for Good, or send a check to our new PO Box. We can’t thank you enough, and promise to keep bringing you this kind of vital news.
You can also make a donation to our PayPal or subscribe to our Patreon.