Venezuela’s Oil Could Pay Its Own Bill If We Let the Market Do Its Job

## When Opportunity Knocks, Answer the Door

Here’s what nobody wants to say out loud: Venezuela sits on more oil than Saudi Arabia. Let that sink in for a moment. We’re talking about a country that should be swimming in wealth but instead became a socialist nightmare under Nicolás Maduro’s grip. Now that Trump’s made his move and Maduro’s out of the picture, Washington’s having the predictable argument about whether America should be involved at all.

The Democrats are doing what they do best. Wringing their hands. Talking about taxpayer risk and nation-building quagmires. They’ve got their calculators out, adding up hypothetical costs like we’re planning to write blank checks forever. It’s the same tired playbook we’ve seen before, and honestly, it misses the entire point.

Senate Republicans, on the other hand, are looking at the actual assets on the table. Venezuela isn’t some barren wasteland that needs a Marshall Plan 2.0. It’s got petroleum reserves that make Texas look modest. Natural gas deposits that could power cities. Minerals that American companies would line up to extract if given half a chance.

## The Free Market Doesn’t Need a Bailout

Sen. Dave McCormick gets it. When he talks about Trump’s “America first” operation in Venezuela, he’s not describing some endless occupation funded by your tax dollars. He’s describing what happens when you remove a dictator who’s been blocking free enterprise for decades and let capitalism do what it does naturally.

You know what’s interesting? The same people worried about the cost of involvement in Venezuela never seem concerned about the cost of NOT being involved. We’ve watched China cozy up to corrupt regimes across Latin America for years, gaining influence while we sat back and lectured about international norms. Meanwhile, our own energy security gets threatened, and we’re supposed to pretend that’s the responsible position?

The calculation here isn’t complicated. Venezuela’s economy is bleak because socialism destroyed it, not because the country lacks resources. Remove the socialist stranglehold, establish basic rule of law, and American energy companies will flood in with private investment. Not government handouts. Private capital looking for returns.

## Reality Beats Ideology Every Time

There’s this assumption baked into the Democrat position that American involvement automatically means American taxpayers footing endless bills. That’s nation-building thinking from 2003, and it doesn’t apply here. Iraq didn’t have Venezuela’s oil wealth just sitting there waiting to be developed. Afghanistan certainly didn’t have anything close to these natural resources.

The hard reality facing U.S. energy giants isn’t whether Venezuela’s reserves are valuable. They absolutely are. The question is whether the security situation stabilizes enough and whether property rights get established clearly enough that companies feel confident investing billions. That’s where American leadership matters, but it doesn’t require American checkbooks.

Think about this differently for a second. We’ve spent decades watching Venezuela collapse, creating refugee crises that spill into neighboring countries and eventually reach our southern border. We’ve watched Russia and China gain footholds in our hemisphere. We’ve seen a major oil producer taken completely off global markets, driving up prices everywhere else. What exactly has the hands-off approach cost us?

## The Bill That Pays Itself

Trump’s position isn’t complicated. He’s betting that Venezuela’s resources can fund Venezuela’s recovery. It’s not charity. It’s not imperialism. It’s recognizing that sometimes the best investment is removing obstacles that prevent natural wealth from flowing.

Democrats sound the alarm about taxpayer risk, but where’s their alarm about energy dependence? About Chinese influence in Latin America? About the human cost of leaving millions under authoritarian rule when we had the chance to change course?

The partisan divide on this issue tells you everything. One side sees costs and risks. The other side sees assets and opportunities. One side wants committees and studies. The other side wants American companies making deals that benefit both countries.

Venezuela’s oil wealth isn’t theoretical. It’s real, it’s massive, and it’s been locked away by corruption and incompetence for too long. If we’re smart about this, the only thing taxpayers will fund is the initial security that lets private enterprise take over. After that? The market handles it.

That’s not nation-building. That’s removing a dam and letting the river flow.

American Conservatives