“Not the levels of transparency that society wants”: in Venezuela, the Nobel Peace Prize denounces the oil agreement signed with Trump
Maria Corina Machado criticizes the lack of transparency of the agreement which granted the United States the management of deposits representing 20% of Venezuelan oil reserves. She points in particular to the role…
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner questioned the transparency of the oil deal signed in August between Venezuela's interim government and the United States during a press conference on Thursday. “This agreement does not reflect the levels of transparency that Venezuelan society desires,” she said during her first press conference since returning to Venezuela on Sunday, after ten months in exile. The agreement grants the United States the management of deposits representing some 65 billion barrels, or 20% of Venezuela's gigantic oil reserves.
It has not been officially released, but American media leaked it a few weeks ago. A billionaire prosecuted in Switzerland and Spain This agreement is managed by the company North American Blue Energy Partners (Nabep), headed by billionaire Alejandro Betancourt, implicated in allegedly opaque affairs during the governments of Hugo Chavez (1999-2013) and Nicolas Maduro (2013-2026). “This particular person is being investigated for very serious motives and offenses in various countries around the world,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner said of the Nabep leader.
Alejandro Betancourt is the target of investigations for money laundering and tax fraud in Spain and also for money laundering in Switzerland. The Zurich public prosecutor's office had requested his extradition from the United Kingdom in November 2025, before this request was withdrawn last May, after contacts between the American authorities and the Zurich justice system, noted Swiss Radio Television (RTS). In Venezuela, he was also investigated for embezzlement.
The Venezuelan subsoil contains the largest oil reserves in the world (more than 300 billion barrels estimated), but its production remains very limited, at around 1.2 million barrels per day. At its historic peak, it reached more than 3 million barrels per day.
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- BFM Business29 Oct, 20:04
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