Who is Alejandro Betancourt, the controversial man – Business News
President Trump’s historic Venezuela oil deal is being led by a controversial determine – Alejandro Betancourt, who has confronted money-laundering accusations from nations round the world over the previous decade.
The deal, introduced by Trump final week, will give the White House majority control over 65 billion barrels, or about 20% of Venezuela’s reserves, whereas the US’ own reserves dwindle amid the Middle East battle.
Betancourt’s North American Blue Energy Partners – the second-largest personal oil producer in North America – will get entry to 17 fields, the backing of the US army and 100-year concessions from Venezuelan authorities.
Alejandro Betancourt in November 2015. alejandro-betancourt.com
The 46-year-old oil baron reportedly performed a essential position in serving to the Trump administration oust Nicolas Maduro from energy – and has his own checkered previous, together with a decade-long money-laundering probe, shady authorities contracts and a raid of his Spanish fort.
“When you talk about controversial figure – look, guys, there’s a reality here, okay? And…you have to deal with the dynamics sometimes that are in place in order to get to where you want to go,” a US official stated Tuesday during a White House-organized press call.
“This is a proven operator … I’m not nominating anyone for sainthood here. What I am telling you is that this is a person that, in the past, has been helpful to the United States government.”
His position in Maduro’s ouster
The controversial man from Caracas – whose full title is Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt López – was reportedly a important half of the Trump administration’s mission earlier this 12 months to seize Venezuelan dictator Maduro and his spouse and fly them to New York.
“No Betancourt, no energy-security deal,” a US official advised Axios. “And Maduro might still be in power if it wasn’t for him.”
In late 2025, as Trump demanded Maduro step down, Betancourt spoke to Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez – now the nation’s interim president – to really feel out whether or not she would take over as his alternative, in response to reviews.
Betancourt was additionally reportedly in common contact with Mauricio Claver-Carone, seen as Trump’s Venezuela go-to, to debate how they may keep oil flowing by the nation if Maduro was eliminated.
During Trump’s first administration, Betancourt related with Claver-Carone, then the director of Western Hemisphere affairs for the National Security Council.
President Trump introduced a historic Venezuela oil deal final week. Annabelle Gordon/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock
Betancourt additionally allied with Juan Guaidó, the head of Venezuela’s national meeting, in his opposition efforts – touring to Moscow to hand-deliver a letter asking Russia to stop backing Maduro.
On Jan. 3, during Maduro’s seize, dubbed “Operation Absolute Resolve,” Claver-Caron was speaking by way of telephone with Betancourt, who in flip was speaking with Rodriguez, in response to Axios.
At first, Rodriguez “thought the US had killed Maduro, that she had been double-crossed, and [she] was very angry and very scared,” a Betancourt ally advised Axios.
“He had to talk her down, playing the good cop,” and he finally persuaded her to talk with Secretary of State Marco Rubio about filling the now-vacant presidency in Venezuela, the report stated.
Money-laundering accusations
Betancourt has confronted a number of investigations accusing him of money laundering in Spain, Switzerland and the US. He has not been formally charged.
A $1.2 billion money-laundering probe launched by US investigators in 2016 led to a federal indictment of his cousin, Francisco Convit, and different Venezuelans.
Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez (above) was in contact with Betancourt during Maduro’s ouster, in response to reviews. PRESIDENCY OF VENEZUELA/HANDOUT/EPA/Shutterstock
In 2019, after reviews recognized Betancourt as a co-conspirator in the money-laundering scheme, he employed Rudy Giuliani as his lawyer, who advised prime DOJ officers that Betancourt didn’t find out about the crime, in response to the Washington Post.
Giuliani and two associates had additionally stayed at El Alamin, Betancourt’s $30 million Spanish fort, to fulfill with an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, urging him to analyze Joe Biden, who was then operating in opposition to Trump, the report stated.
Six years later, Swiss authorities took up the US money-laundering case, convincing Spanish authorities to raid Betancourt’s fort and his workplace in Madrid.
This spring, US officers – together with then-Attorney General Pam Bondi – known as Swiss authorities to ask them to push off the investigation, since the case was stopping Betancourt from leaving his home in the UK to complete Trump’s oil deal in DC, in response to the report.
Betancourt was dealing with journey restrictions from the British authorities, although he was allowed to shuttle between his Oxfordshire mansion and Chelsea home by personal helicopter, in response to the Times.
The deal will give the US majority control over 65 billion barrels of oil. Anadolu by way of Getty Images
In May, Swiss officers advised UK authorities they weren’t ready to proceed, so Betancourt was returned his Venezuelan and Italian passports, in response to the Times.
He was additionally given a multiple-entry visa to the United States so he might meet with Trump administration officers, in response to reviews.
“People who have historically been targets of the US government, and at one point could have been sanctioned, are now benefiting from these deals because the US wants results from Venezuela,” a US-based source in the power sector advised the Times.
No-bid authorities contracts
US officers have praised Betancourt’s efforts to oust Maduro and secure an oil deal – however Venezuelans have denounced the reported billionaire as a corrupt “bolichico,” a slang time period for younger, rich businessmen who received huge state contracts underneath Hugo Chavez.
In the 2010s, Betancourt and his business companions have been awarded state contracts price $5 billion to construct energy plants during the nation’s power disaster – despite the fact that that they had no expertise with such work.
An investigation at the time by Transparency International estimated that Betancourt’s power firm, Derwick Associates, had overbilled by $2.9 billion.
Rodriguez (above) was reportedly “very angry and very scared” instantly after Maduro’s ouster, in response to Axios. AFP by way of Getty Images
Critics additionally accused Derwick of shopping for up faulty, second-hand generators and improperly putting in them, resulting in widespread blackouts.
In defamation lawsuits in opposition to its critics, which have been both settled out of court docket or dismissed, Derwick argued the glitches have been due to the Venezuelan authorities’s failure to take care of the plants.
When requested about Betancourt’s controversies, a US official stated: “I’m being blunt. We make decisions like this throughout the world each time. I imply, geopolitics is usually not a selection between the ultimate and the imperfect. It is usually you’re attempting to navigate what’s the best final result, and you need to work with the elements that you’ve in place.
“But this individual in particular is a proven oil operator who we believe can, given his knowledge of the industry – and in fact, is already doing it – and bring these fields into productive capacity that produces the oil necessary to generate the revenue necessary for Venezuela to emerge from really 20 years of being in the hole.”
His business background
After making a fortune from the energy plant contracts, Betancourt purchased a stake in a company that operated oil fields in western Venezuela, forming the foundation of NABEP.
His different business ventures embody Hawkers, a Spanish sun shades model, and Auro New Transport, which sells taxi licenses to rideshare apps like Uber.
Betancourt was born in 1980 and raised in a rich, influential household in Caracas. His great-grandfather was Hermógenes López, who served as performing president of Venezuela.
Betancourt has stated he holds an economics and business degree from Suffolk University in Boston and grasp’s degree in business from Oxford University.
According to reviews, he was married in 2012 in a lavish ceremony at a Madrid monastery.
