The fate of approximately 13 billion dollars obtained after the USA established control over Venezuela’s oil exports and sales revenues in January is being discussed. According to the calculation of the Financial Times, while the revenue from oil sales was transferred to accounts controlled by the US administration, the amount officially recorded to have reached Venezuela remained at the level of only 300 million dollars. Although Washington maintains that the money is protected on behalf of the Venezuelan people, it has not published a detailed audit report on how the accounts were operated, how much was paid to which institutions, and where the remaining billions of dollars were kept.
OIL IS TRANSFERRED TO THE USA
While oil revenues constitute approximately a quarter of the Venezuelan economy, the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that occurred in June further increased the country’s resource needs. While the loss of life exceeded 5 thousand, the United Nations calculated the damage to buildings and infrastructure as approximately 37 billion dollars. The USA announced that it allocated 386 million dollars for disaster response and that resources will be transferred to reconstruction from its oil accounts, but the amount of this resource was not disclosed. According to economist Francisco Rodriguez, one of the main reasons why the Venezuelan economy grew by only 2.5 percent in the first quarter was that not all of the increased oil revenues were transferred to the country’s administration. The resources of independent countries have been illegally seized many times before in US history.
REVENUES WERE SEIZED IN HAITI
One of the clearest historical examples of the United States directly controlling another country’s revenue sources occurred in Haiti. After American soldiers invaded the country in 1915, they captured seven customs offices, including the capital, Port-au-Prince. With the agreement of 1915, a financial advisor and collector general of customs revenues, nominated by the US President, were appointed as the head of Haiti’s financial system. Washington controlled not only the collection of customs revenues but also how the Haitian budget was spent; He objected to budget laws passed without the approval of his own financial advisor. Although the American military occupation ended in 1934, financial control was planned to continue until foreign debts were paid.
IRAN OIL WAS SHARED
Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh’s nationalization of the British-controlled oil company was at the center of the process leading to the 1953 coup of the USA and England. Following the operation supported by the CIA and British intelligence, Mossadegh was overthrown and the Shah’s rule was strengthened. With the 1954 oil agreement that followed the coup, Iranian oil was made available to an international group of companies. Although Iran’s official ownership of oil was preserved on paper, production, exploration and operation of the Abadan refinery were left to two consortium companies established in the Netherlands; Iran was able to appoint only two of the seven members on the board of directors. This structure, in which US companies also participated, once again established the Western oil control, which had been broken by the nationalization attempt, in a new form.
IRAQ OIL WAS UNDER OCCUPATION MANAGEMENT
After the US invaded Iraq in 2003, the country’s oil revenues and seized state assets were collected in the Iraq Development Fund, which is under the control of the US-led Provisional Coalition Administration. According to the US Court of Accounts GAO report, the occupation administration controlled $23 billion in Iraqi income and assets between May 2003 and June 2004. The US governments also determined how much money would be allocated to which projects in the country’s reconstruction process.
VENEZULA OIL IS BEING EXPLOITED
Donald Trump’s statement regarding Venezuelan oil was the last link in this historical chain. In his speech on May 22, 2026, Trump said, “We have extracted so much oil from Venezuela that we have covered the cost of the Iran war approximately 25 times.” These words directly revealed that Washington sees Venezuelan oil not only as a protected income for the reconstruction of Venezuela, but also evaluates it in terms of the economic gain of the war the USA is waging in another region.
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