Controversial Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, who amassed massive fortunes under former socialist President Hugo Chavez and who has faced investigations into alleged money laundering, has been tapped by the Trump administration to lead a new US-backed oil venture in the Latin American nation. On Friday, President Donald Trump announced that the US has reached a deal with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez under which Washington will acquire majority control over more than 65 billion barrels’ worth of proven oil reserves. As part of the deal, the US government plans to take a 35 percent passive stake in Betancourt’s North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) – Venezuela’s second-largest oil firm.
In a statement, Betancourt said Venezuela is “blessed with an abundance of natural resources, hardworking people and untapped potential”, adding that the deal will “unleash that potential to the great benefit of both Venezuelans and Americans”. So who is Betancourt, 46, and why is Trump relying on him to tap into Venezuela’s oil sector? Betancourt made fortunes after his firm, Derwick Associates, won contracts to build power plants under the government of President Chavez following an acute power crisis triggered by drought in the late 2000s.
Critics say the firm won those contracts often without bidding, earning billions of dollars. Betancourt and other firms, which received lucrative contracts during the Chavez era, are often called “bolichicos,” meaning the “Bolivarian boys”. His net worth is believed to be $2.6bn, according to media reports.
But in 2017, anticorruption watchdog Transparencia Venezuela accused the company of inflating prices during the drought period. In 2021, another report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) said Betancourt was involved in corruption and money laundering networks linked to the Venezuelan state. Over the past decade, he has faced money laundering investigations in the US, Spain and Switzerland.
In 2025, the Venezuelan tycoon was arrested twice in the UK following extradition requests from Switzerland and Spain over alleged money laundering cases. Betancourt, who has the experience of running oil fields in Venezuela, became a person of interest for the Trump administration, which has been looking to exploit the country’s vast oil resources. This year, the US administration intervened in the Swiss investigations into Betancourt and urged ked the UK government to lift travel curbs on him, according to US media reports.
The Venezuelan businessman has denied the accusations and has faced no formal criminal charges or convictions. Betancourt also leads the O’Hara administration, an international Spain-based investment group, where he serves as the president and one of the main shareholders of Hawkers, an e-commerce company that sells sunglasses. Born into a wealthy family in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, Betancourt initially worked in the energy sector after completing a Master’s in Business Administration course from Oxford University in the United Kingdom.
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