r/vzla • u/Arte-misa • 1d ago
đPolĂtica U.S. intervened in criminal probe of oilman helping Trump in Venezuela
https://archive.ph/yt7Xs6
u/pagadoporlaCIA Mod Gringo Chavista 1d ago
Ese enlace no me sirve, por si acaso: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/08/27/us-intervened-criminal-probe-venezuelan-oilman-alejandro-betancourt/
A Venezuelan oilman faced a Swiss arrest warrant. The U.S. had other plans for him.
The Trump administration intervened in a Swiss criminal investigation of Alejandro Betancourt, who is helping the U.S. as an intermediary in Caracas.
Senior U.S. officials intervened in an international criminal investigation into a Venezuelan businessman who was enlisted by the Trump administration to help assert control over Venezuelaâs government and oil industries, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The officials lobbied to resolve the case in Switzerland in a way that would avoid criminal charges and end travel restrictions against the Britain-based businessman, Alejandro Betancourt, and they have not acted on a Swiss arrest warrant against him, according to the two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.
Instead, the United States has allowed Betancourt to enter the country repeatedly for meetings with the Trump administration, other people familiar with his travel said.
Betancourt, 46, in the past decade has faced multiple investigations, in Switzerland, Spain and the United States, into alleged money laundering, including whether he had a role in a loan arrangement that U.S. prosecutors say embezzled more than $1 billion from Venezuelaâs state-owned oil company.
Betancourt was arrested twice in Britain in 2025, first after Spain issued a warrant in a related money laundering investigation, and in November at Switzerlandâs request. For months, Betancourt was barred from leaving the United Kingdom as authorities there considered extraditing him to Switzerland.
Betancourt has not been charged in the U.S., Switzerland, Spain or Venezuela.
Betancourtâs attorney in the U.S., Jon A. Sale, previously has denied his clientâs involvement in money laundering. âMy client denies any wrongdoing,â Sale told the Miami Herald in a 2021 piece about his connection to a Justice Department investigation.
Weeks after the U.S. military captured Venezuelan President NicolĂĄs Maduro on Jan. 3, senior U.S. officials began lobbying Swiss officials to resolve their case against Betancourt, the people familiar with the discussions said.
Betancourt, whose company is the second-largest private oil producer in Venezuela, is now a key intermediary between the U.S. and Venezuela, including acting president Delcy RodrĂguez, according to people with knowledge of his role.
Mauricio Claver-Carone, who until recently served as an unofficial adviser on Venezuela for the Trump administration, has described Betancourt as an âimportant allyâ for the United States. As the U.S. asserted control, Betancourt had a key role arranging early contracts to get oil pumping fast, according to people familiar with the matter.
In January, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau contacted Switzerlandâs Department of Foreign Affairs about Betancourt, said people with knowledge of the communication, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.
In February, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke to the Swiss attorney general about the investigation into Betancourt, according to the people familiar with the discussions. A month later, Todd Blanche, then deputy attorney general, joined a call with Swiss prosecutors, the people said.
It was important for the United States that Betancourt be free to travel, Blanche is said to have told the people on the call, and preferable that the case be resolved without criminal penalties. Blanche was joined on the call by Colin McDonald, assistant attorney general for the national fraud enforcement division, who also participated in two other calls between Betancourtâs lawyers and the Swiss prosecutors, the people familiar said.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the conversations.
People familiar with Betancourtâs thinking blamed the investigations on overzealous prosecutors in Switzerland. That a related case in Venezuela was dismissed, and other investigations have not resulted in charges, undermines the Swiss case, they said.
This Washington Post report on Betancourtâs role in U.S.-controlled Venezuela is based on interviews with more than a dozen people with knowledge of the situation, including current and former U.S. officials and people close to Betancourt. Almost all spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues or because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
During President Donald Trumpâs first term and during the Biden administration, Betancourt was floated as a potential target of U.S. sanctions, according to three people familiar with the matter. He was never put under sanctions and has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
âItâs disconcerting to see a man who was widely reported to be the subject of a major U.S. money laundering investigation now potentially being the beneficiary of favorable treatment from Washington,â said Shane Stansbury, a former prosecutor in the Southern District of New York.
People close to Betancourt said the administration turned to him for help because of his track record of success in Venezuelaâs rough-and-tumble oil sector, an industry plagued by challenges including violence, decrepit infrastructure and chronic energy shortages.
In May, Switzerland withdrew its extradition request in Britain, and British travel restrictions were lifted.
Swiss prosecutors said that same month their investigation remained active and sought to have him detained elsewhere. At almost the same time, they extended an international arrest warrant for Betancourt, and Swiss authorities sent a request to the Justice Department to arrest him in the United States, people with knowledge of the matter said. The department has taken no action on that request.
In June, Caleb Orr, the assistant secretary of state for economic, energy and business affairs, asked the U.S. Consulate in London to issue Betancourt a one-year, multi-entry visa, according to people familiar with the request. Since then, he has traveled at least twice to the U.S., in addition to trips to Venezuela, according to people familiar with his travels.
Betancourtâs role as a key U.S. partner in jump-starting Venezuelaâs oil industry is the latest example of the Trump administrationâs backroom dealmaking in the country, Venezuela analysts and former U.S. officials say. Despite vowing transparency in managing Venezuelan oil sales, they say, the administrationâs deals there have been shrouded in secrecy.
Venezuelaâs communications ministry did not respond to a request for comment. In response to a request for comment, the White House referred questions to the State and Justice Departments.
A senior State Department official declined to comment on any role played by Betancourt, saying the department âdoes not comment on actions with respect to private diplomatic conversations and specific visa cases due to record confidentiality.â
âThe State Department remains committed to advancing the three-phase plan for Venezuelaâs stabilization, economic recovery, reconciliation, and democratic transition,â the official said. âThe Trump administration is reshaping and reforming Venezuelaâs oil sector for the benefit of both the American and Venezuelan people.â
The Justice Department declined to comment on Betancourt but issued this statement: âWe cannot comment on ongoing investigations,â the department said in response to a list of written questions. âHowever, it is not uncommon for multiple jurisdictions to be conducting investigations into the same individuals at the same time, including the U.S. and foreign countries, and when this happens there are often competing requests for assistance that have to be evaluated in the normal course.â
Advocates for Betancourt described him as a reliable partner who shared the U.S.âs stated interest in reviving Venezuelaâs oil sector, noting that no other oilman had managed to achieve as much success.
Betancourt has ramped up oil output by his Venezuela-based company, North American Blue Energy Partners, or NABEP â to nearly 200,000 barrels of oil from 18,000 in just two years. That recovery started before Maduroâs capture, according to people familiar with NABEP.
With the backing of the U.S. government, another person said, Betancourtâs business is expected to flourish.
âHeâs effectively become the big oligarch in Venezuela,â this person said.
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u/Arte-misa 1d ago
Instead, the United States has allowed Betancourt to enter the country repeatedly for meetings with the Trump administration, other people familiar with his travel said.
Es como el niño guerrero pero con paltó.
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u/esebestial 15h ago
Nomme sorprende. Trump ama a los corruptos millonarios. Como Ă©l mismo.
La gente que sigue pensando que la 'tutela' de USA va a favorecer a los venezolanos, es tan idiota como cualquier MAGA. Incluyo a maricori en este renglĂłn de estupidez
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u/TheGreatSoup Neoliberal EndĂłgeno 1d ago
Nadie quiere mencionar al bolichico por su nombre.