The 100-year history behind Trump’s push for Venezuela’s oil wealth

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. America’s enchantment with Venezuelan oil is a century-long tale of fortunes made and lost, starting with a 1922 letter to President Warren Harding’s secretary of state and culminating with President Trump’s move to wrest control of the country’s oil wealth. U.S.

diplomat Willis C. Cook reported from Caracas in December 1922 on an oil find that would change the trajectory of the Americas. One week after drillers struck a gusher 1,500 feet below ground in the northwest part of the country, he said the flow of crude through the well remained so prolific that “it has not yet been brought under control." A follow-up message from the consul included photos of oil spurting into the sky.

The blowout marked Venezuela’s unofficial entrance as a big player in the global energy market, its vast reserves a major prize for governments and companies hungry for oil. By virtue of proximity, capital and more, Americans eventually overtook competitors from the U.K. and elsewhere for influence in the region.

Oil has since been central to the countries’ topsy-turvy relationship leading up to Trump’s surprise incursion that unseated President Nicolás Maduro. The White House initially sold its pressure campaign on Caracas as a bid to slow narcotrafficking. Now, it appears to be all about oil.

Officials have promised to revitalize the country’s once-vaunted industry through U.S. know-how, sell Venezuelan crude “indefinitely" and share some of the spoils with domestic companies. The long path here has veered between periods of openness, which helped U.S.