The United States government has entered a strategic energy partnership with billionaire Alejandro Betancourt and his company, NABEP. This arrangement grants Washington significant access to Venezuelan crude despite Betancourt's history as a target of fdeeral money-laundering investigations.
The Pentagon's 35 per cent stake in NABEP
In a highly unusual move, the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital has taken a 35 per cent equity stake in North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), the firm owned by Alejandro Betancourt. according to the report, this partnership allows the U.S. government to secure access to approximately one-fifth of Venezuela's crude reserves for several decades.
The deal also provides the State Department with the specific right to purchase 20 per cent of the oil produced by NABEP at cost. for the remaining 80 per cent of the output, the State Department maintains preferential access, effectively turning a former legal target into a primary strategic asset for U.S. energy interests.
135 million barrels and the Jan 3 operation
Alejandro Betancourt's ascent to a U.S. partner was paved by his role in the Jan 3 operation that removed former President Nicolas Maduro from power.. As reported, Betancourt provided critical intelligence that enabled a U.S. naval blockade to target sanctioned tankers, resulting in the interdiction or seizure of more than a dozen vessels.
Beyond intelligence, Betancourt acted as a diplomatic bridge, facilitating negotiations with Delcy Rodriguez, who assumed the role of interim president .. This intermediary work has already yielded tangible results; vessel monitoring data and sources cited in the report indicate that a January trading agreement brokered by Betancourt has seen more than 135 million barrels of fuel and crude exported to the U.S., India, Europe, and the Caribbean—roughly half of all exports through August.
The $1 billion embezzlement probe and the Swiss pivot
The partnership is particularly striking given that U.S. federal prosecutors in Florida previously investigated Alejandro Betancourt for his alleged role in a scheme to embezzle over $1 billion from the state-owned oil company PDVSA. The investigation focused on the laundering of these funds through Swiss and Maltese bank accounts, as well as Miami real estate.
However, the legal trajectory shifted abruptly. The report says that U.S. officials pressured the Swiss government to relax its own inquiries into the tycoon.. This pressure coincided with a May decision by Swiss authorities to withdraw an extradition request for Betancourt from the United Kingdom, a move that Swiss legal scholar Mark Pieth described as unusual for an ongoing criminal case.
The 'Bolichicos' and the Derwick Associates legacy
Alejandro Betancourt is a prominent member of the "Bolichicos," a group of young entrepreneurs who built massive fortunes under the administration of Hugo Chavez. His company, Derwick Associates, became a symbol of this era when it was hired to build power plants during Venezuela's electricity crises, often without competitive bidding.
The legacy of these projects is contentious;government data later revealed that many of the plants built by Derwick Associates operated at minimal capacity or not at all, contributing to chronic blackouts. While Betancourt and Derwick Associates have denied wrongdoing—blaming state mismanagement—this history underscores the pattern of state-linked enrichment that now intersects with U.S. strategic goals.
Which supervisors halted the Florida investigation?
Despite the current partnership, several critical details remain opaque. The report notes that two sources claimed U.S. prosecutors in Florida were "discouraged by supervisors" from continuing the money-laundering investigation into Alejandro Betancourt, but the identity of these supervisors and the specfic directives they issued have not been disclosed.
Furthermore, it remains unverified whether the pausing of the federal probe was a formal quid pro quo in exchange for Betancourt's cooperation in the removal of Nicolas Maduro. While a U.S. official stated that Betancourt currently has no legal problems in the United States, the exact timeline and legal mechanism used to clear his path for the NABEP deal remain unknown.
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