Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said in an interview this week that Washington’s newly selected oil partner in Venezuela, Alejandro Betancourt, is implicated in "extremely serious corruption." She said if she returned to power she would not regard Betancourt as a viable commercial partner. Betancourt recently struck a lucrative deal with the Trump administration that gave him control of roughly one-fifth of Venezuela’s oil reserves.

2026-10-16

Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said in an interview this week that Washington’s newly selected oil partner in Venezuela, Alejandro Betancourt, is implicated in "extremely serious corruption." She said if she returned to power she would not regard Betancourt as a viable commercial partner. Betancourt recently struck a lucrative deal with the Trump administration that gave him control of roughly one-fifth of Venezuela’s oil reserves.