Washington reclaims Latin America through energy as Israel returns to Caracas

Venezuela’s oil is becoming more than an energy asset; it is emerging as an instrument in a wider contest for influence across Latin America. The agreement announced by US President Donald Trump on 28th August brings more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan reserves into a partnership that Trump says gives the American side “majority control,” while Venezuela’s interim government, led by Delcy Rodríguez, insists the 25-year deal preserves national sovereignty. 

That tension between American control and Venezuelan sovereignty lies at the heart of a broader geopolitical struggle over who will shape the country’s economic and strategic future.

The deal also fits into Washington’s renewed push to reassert primacy in the Western Hemisphere by securing access to energy, strategic resources and supply chains while limiting the influence of China, Russia, Iran and other external powers.

In this context, Venezuela is becoming a test case for a new form of US regional influence, one built not only through diplomacy and security ties, but through control of critical economic assets. 

Caracas’s simultaneous opening toward Israel adds another layer to this realignment, raising the prospect that Venezuela’s transformation could reshape not only US influence in Latin America, but also the region’s wider geopolitical alignments.

🚨🔥 MAJOR BREAKING: Trump announces a historic U.S.-Venezuela oil agreement involving majority U.S. control of 65B+ barrels of proven reserves without taxpayer funding, according to his statement. 🇺🇸🛢️ A huge energy and economic move. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! 🇺🇸🔥 pic.twitter.com/lVa2BGFuxn

— John _f_ Kennedy JR (@John_fk_jr7) August 28, 2026

For Juan Contreras, Director of Venezuela’s Radio Al Son del 23, the agreement cannot be understood simply as an economic arrangement between Washington and Caracas. He argues that the deal represents part of a wider US effort to reassert political and strategic influence in Latin America through control over energy resources. In his view,

Venezuelan oil is being transformed from a national economic asset into a geopolitical instrument that could strengthen Washington’s position both in the Western Hemisphere and in its confrontation with Iran.

“The recent oil agreement does not represent sovereign cooperation or a fair exchange,” Contreras argues, describing it instead as the reaffirmation of what he sees as a neocolonial strategy. He accuses Washington of using energy policy, sanctions, economic pressure and the logic of the Monroe Doctrine to subordinate Latin American governments to U.S. strategic interests.

READ: Israel and Venezuela restore consular relations after 17 years

For Contreras, this effort is connected to what he describes as a broader attempt by the United States to restore regional hegemony. He argues that Washington is combining economic pressure with security policy and political intervention in order to weaken governments and political movements that have historically challenged US influence. In this reading,

Venezuela occupies a particularly important position. Its enormous oil reserves, geographical proximity to the United States and long-standing political relationships with Iran, Russia and China have made the country a significant arena of geopolitical competition.

Contreras warns that bringing Venezuela’s oil industry increasingly under U.S. corporate influence could have consequences far beyond bilateral relations. He sees the agreement as an attempt to redirect Venezuela’s economic orientation toward Washington while weakening the network of political and commercial relationships Caracas developed with other powers during the governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro.

🔴 Trump’s $100 billion plan to boost Venezuelan oil production is facing major doubts from industry experts:
• Experts warn that developing the reserves could take at least a decade.
• Hundreds of billions of dollars are needed, as many fields lack essential infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/FBXyUzs6wz

— Open Source Intelligence (@osint42) September 2, 2026

At the same time, the prospect of renewed ties between Venezuela and Israel adds another layer to the geopolitical transformation. Less than three weeks before the Oil agreement was announced, reaching an agreement with Israel to establish a mechanism for providing consular services, after 17 years of estrangement dating back to 2009, when ties were severed over Israel’s war in Gaza.

Contreras views Caracas’s movement toward reestablishing relations with Israel as fundamentally inconsistent with the foreign-policy traditions of the Bolivarian Revolution, particularly its support for the Palestinian cause and its historically close relationship with Iran.

He argues that such a shift would not represent an autonomous Venezuelan foreign-policy choice, but rather the result of pressure from Washington. “The forced shift toward Israel does not reflect the sovereign will of the Venezuelan people,” Contreras says, linking the development to what he describes as U.S. efforts to condition the foreign relations of Latin American countries according to Washington’s geopolitical priorities. From his perspective, closer Venezuelan relations with Israel would also have implications for Caracas’s relationships with Iran, Russia and China.

Contreras argues that Washington seeks to weaken the networks of South-South and multipolar cooperation that have allowed Venezuela to withstand years of political and economic isolation. He sees the potential reorientation of Caracas as part of an effort to reduce the influence of powers that challenge U.S. primacy in the Western Hemisphere.

Israel’s growing engagement in Latin America can be viewed within a broader architecture of U.S. influence in the region. Washington and Israel increasingly play complementary roles: the United States relies on economic, political and diplomatic leverage, while Israel contributes through security cooperation, defense ties and technological partnerships

“The military and political alliance between the White House and Israel seeks to consolidate a neocolonial grip over Our America,” Contreras argues. In his interpretation, this partnership is not limited to Venezuela but forms part of a wider effort to consolidate political influence across Latin America.

Contreras maintains that US sanctions and security policies, combined with Israeli defence and technological relationships in the region, could be used to strengthen governments aligned with Washington while weakening popular and left-wing political movements.

Del “Maldito seas, Israel” al abrazo con los genocidas: la misión sionista en Venezuela y la complicidad de Delcy Rodríguez https://t.co/NYgI2xxH7l

— ICR Venezuela (@LdcVenezuela) August 29, 2026

One of the key concerns among experts, local observers and members of the Venezuelan community is the future of the relationship between Caracas and Tehran. For years, Venezuela and Iran developed a partnership based on energy cooperation, trade, technology transfers and a shared opposition to U.S. sanctions. Contreras describes the Caracas-Tehran relationship as one of the most important examples of South-South cooperation in the Western Hemisphere.

A significant distancing between Venezuela and Iran, he argues, would therefore represent more than a diplomatic adjustment. It would amount to a strategic setback for Iran’s presence in Latin America and for the wider idea of a multipolar international system capable of challenging U.S. dominance. “Venezuela represents the strongest foothold for South-South cooperation in the hemisphere,” Contreras says.

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In his assessment, losing Caracas as a close partner would weaken Tehran’s ability to project political and economic influence close to the United States while reducing Iran’s access to an important market for energy, industrial and technological cooperation.

The bilateral relationship has previously included exchanges involving oil products, refining assistance and technical cooperation. Contreras interprets such arrangements as mechanisms that helped both countries mitigate the effects of international sanctions.

He also sees the partnership in explicitly ideological terms. For sectors of the Latin American left, he argues, the Caracas-Tehran relationship became a symbol of resistance to U.S. sanctions, dollar-centered financial power and what they describe as Western political pressure. A Venezuelan pivot away from Iran would therefore carry symbolic consequences alongside the economic ones.

El gran acuerdo energético con Estados Unidos sigue nuestro camino para convertir a Venezuela, de un país con grandes reservas, en una potencia productora de petróleo, en beneficio y felicidad del pueblo venezolano. pic.twitter.com/rfADqDZwA0

— Delcy Rodríguez (@delcyrodriguezv) August 30, 2026

Behind the debate over Venezuela’s oil deal is a bigger question about Latin America’s future role in global politics.

Supporters of closer ties with the United States may see more investment, energy cooperation and renewed relations with Israel as a way to reconnect Venezuela with Western markets. Critics, however, fear that this shift could weaken the independent foreign-policy relationships Venezuela has built with countries such as Iran, China and Russia.

The main issue is not only who controls or develops Venezuelan oil, but whether Venezuela and other Latin American countries will remain free to choose their own economic and political partnerships.

If Caracas moves closer to Washington and Israel while reducing ties with Tehran, this could signal a wider change in Latin America’s geopolitical direction. It may mark a move away from the multipolar alliances promoted during the Bolivarian era and toward a regional order in which the United States once again plays a stronger role.

For Contreras and other anti-imperialist voices in Latin America, the debate over Venezuelan oil is therefore about more than energy. It is also about who will have the greatest influence over the region’s political and strategic future.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.