January 8, 2026
An Opinion and Biblical–Moral Argument
By WLBJ
INTRODUCTION: THE QUESTION THEY DON’T WANT ASKED
The modern narrative pushed by Washington is simple: Venezuela “stole” American oil, its leaders are criminals, and U.S. intervention is righteous. I reject that narrative entirely.
I argue that Hugo Chávez acted within both international law and Biblical moral principles when he renegotiated Venezuela’s oil contracts, and that the economic collapse of Venezuela was not accidental, but the foreseeable result of coordinated financial pressure, sanctions, and geopolitical warfare — culminating in the present seizure of Venezuelan sovereignty.
Scripture teaches us to test every spirit, especially those clothed in power.
“Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, who write oppression into law.”
— Isaiah 10:1
I. PERMANENT SOVEREIGNTY OVER NATURAL RESOURCES IS NOT THEFT
ARGUMENTS:
Here’s the core of Trump’s argument:
U.S. companies built the infrastructure
American and European oil companies financed, built, and operated much of Venezuela’s oil infrastructure (wells, refineries, pipelines, upgrading facilities) under concession and joint-venture agreements dating back decades.
Contract terms were unilaterally changed
Under Chávez (especially 2005–2007), Venezuela forced majority state ownership, rewrote contracts, and seized assets when companies refused the new terms.
Compensation was disputed or delayed
Venezuela often paid less than market value, paid years later, or didn’t pay at all according to U.S. companies. Some firms won arbitration awards (ICSID), others are still unpaid.
U.S. position = unlawful expropriation
The Trump administration characterizes this as “theft” because:
Assets were taken without what the U.S. considers “prompt, adequate, and effective” compensation
Contractual protections were overridden by state force.
5. Venezuela’s counter-position
Venezuela relies on Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources (PSNR) and argues:
The oil always belonged to Venezuela
Nationalization is lawful
Compensation disputes ≠ theft
International law recognizes Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources (PSNR). This doctrine affirms that a nation owns its resources, not foreign corporations.
Venezuela’s oil did not belong to Exxon, ConocoPhillips, or Chevron. It belonged to the Venezuelan people.
Chávez’s renegotiation of contracts in the early 2000s was not confiscation — it was reassertion of sovereignty after decades of exploitative concessionary regimes that left Venezuela rich in oil and poor in reality.
President Hugo Chávez argued that prior oil contracts unfairly favored foreign companies, limited Venezuela’s share of profits during high oil prices, and undermined sovereign control over natural resources. He sought higher royalties/taxes and majority state control through PDVSA to fund social programs.
Here’s the brief history:
1. Before Chávez — Foreign Concession System
In the early 20th century, foreign oil companies (including U.S. and European firms) held concessions to explore and extract Venezuelan oil. These were negotiated under Venezuelan law but were essentially rights granted to foreign firms, not state-owned control. This system dominated Venezuela’s oil industry for decades.
2. Nationalization in the 1970s
Long before Chávez, Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in 1976 under President Carlos Andrés Pérez. This created the state oil company PDVSA and ended most foreign ownership, transferring the oil business entirely to state control. Foreign firms were replaced by PDVSA affiliates.
3. 1990s — Joint Ventures and Partial Foreign Involvement
During the 1990s, Venezuela allowed joint ventures and service contracts with foreign companies as part of efforts to attract investment, meaning foreign firms still participated under negotiated terms. Baker Institute
4. Chávez’s Contract Adjustments in the 2000s
When Hugo Chávez came to power in 1999, the oil industry was already nationalized and state-controlled. His government then renegotiated the remaining joint venture terms with foreign partners in the early 2000s, notably raising royalties/taxes and requiring PDVSA majority control of projects. Companies had to choose to accept those terms, leave, or litigate.Manifold at UCalgary Press . This was his right as current leader of the country.
A nation reclaiming control over its God-given resources is not theft. It is stewardship.
When President Hugo Chávez nationalized the oil industry in 2007, Venezuela required foreign companies to renegotiate existing contracts and accept majority state ownership in new “mixed companies.” Some companies agreed; others did not.
During that period, PDVSA did negotiate with majors like Chevron, Total, BP, and others; those that agreed stayed as minority partners under new terms. Baker Institute
ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips did not agree to the restructuring deals and instead opted to exit the country and pursue compensation through international arbitration. IISD
Company Responses
Chevron, Total, BP, and others accepted the government’s terms and continued operations in Venezuela under PDVSA-dominated joint ventures. Baker Institute
ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips rejected the new ownership terms, refused to renegotiate on PDVSA’s basis, and subsequently filed arbitration claims for compensation. IISD
Arbitration tribunals later ruled in favor of ConocoPhillips (multiple billion-dollar awards) and in some respects ExxonMobil — though Venezuela *was slow or unable to pay many of these awards.
II. What caused the global oil price collapse of 2014–2016?
The 2014–2016 oil price collapse was driven by major macroeconomic and market fundamentals, not primarily by politics or Venezuela-specific factors. Multiple reputable analyses point to:
Supply Glut / Market Oversupply
Global oil supply grew significantly, including from OPEC and other producers.
Increased inventories and sustained production abroad outpaced demand. World Bank Blogs+1
Weakening Demand
Slowing global economic growth and lower energy demand reduced upward price pressure. House of Commons Library
Shifts in Production Dynamics
Rapid growth in U.S. crude production (especially from shale) and production resilience in many exporting countries added to oversupply. Bank of Canada
What happened
Oil prices collapsed from over ~$100 per barrel in mid-2014 to around ~$30 per barrel by January 2016 — one of the sharpest declines in history. Wikipedia
Summary:
The collapse was chiefly due to supply significantly exceeding demand (a glut) and sluggish global economic activity, with production growth outpacing consumption
Venezuela Was Hit Hard by the 2014–2016 Oil Price Collapse
So, all companies agreed to Chavez’s renegotiation from 2007 except Exxon and ConocoPhillips. They won their arbitration awards, Final Exxon ICSID award issued (~$1.6 billion) wasn’t issued until 2014. Oooh but then guess what? A mysterious Oil price collapse happened that very same year, 2014 which lasted until 2017, and then in 2017 Trump conveniently hit Venezuela with crippling sanctions. Then in 2019-ConocoPhillips award (~$8.7 billion) recognized.
Nicolás Maduro publicly blamed U.S. production and “geopolitical oil warfare” for the collapse in prices in 2014. In December 2014, Maduro accused the United States of using shale (fracking) production to flood the market and drive down oil prices as part of a “geopolitical war,” calling it an imperial maneuver to harm countries like Venezuela.
Venezuela’s economy was extremely oil-dependent: oil exports accounted for roughly 90–95% of export revenue and the majority of government income before 2014. So when global oil prices fell sharply from over ~$100 per barrel in 2014 to under ~$30 by early 2016, the government’s revenue collapsed. This was not a minor fluctuation — it was a crisis-level shock that stripped most of Venezuela’s ability to generate foreign currency revenue. The result was dramatic drops in GDP, fiscal balance, and state capacity to pay obligations.
2. That Drop Reduced Venezuela’s Ability to Pay External Obligations
Because oil revenue funded most government spending and foreign exchange earnings, the price collapse:
slashed foreign currency inflows,
made forex scarce for paying overseas debts, and
forced PDVSA to reallocate cash just to keep basic operations going.
This contributed directly to Venezuela entering sovereign default in late 2017, including on bond payments and other external liabilities. Reuters
Bottom line — the oil price collapse severely hindered Venezuela’s ability to pay oil companies and other creditors simply because the financial means were drastically reduced.
WHY CONTRACTS SHOULD HAVE BEEN RENEGOTIATED AGAIN IN 2017— AND WHY THAT WAS MORAL
Oil contracts signed under radically different price conditions became economically unsustainable after the 2014-2017 oil price collapse, when prices fell by nearly $70 per barrel.
No honest person can deny this destroyed Venezuela’s revenue base.
Scripture is explicit about fairness when circumstances radically change:
“Defraud not the poor because he is poor… for the Lord will plead their cause.”
— Proverbs 22:22–23
Renegotiation is not theft. It is equity.
Many companies accepted new terms and remained in Venezuela PREVIOUSLY, but by 2017, the Trump administration chose different tactics which stink to high heavens, like getting involved in Venezuela’s election disputes, using it as a pretext and sanctioning the daylights out of Venezuela, so that by 2019 they were even more crippled and that justified in Trump’s mind, or should I say the CIA’s mind, the imposition of OIL sanctions which also started in 2019 which were the nail in their coffin setting up todays 2026 unlawful seizures of Venezuelan oil. I can safely say that if this is all true, every person involved in setting Venezuela up to eventually steal their oil will be sent to burn in hell by the Lord Jesus Christ when we all stand before Him.
III. SANCTIONS AS ECONOMIC WARFARE, NOT JUST “POLICY”
By 2017, U.S. financial sanctions targeted Venezuela’s ability to refinance debt, access capital, and sell oil freely.
1. Why Trump and the CIA claim they imposed the 2017 sanctions
In August 2017, the Trump administration issued Executive Order 13808, which restricted Venezuela’s access to U.S. financial markets by:
prohibiting US persons from dealing in most new debt and equity of the Venezuelan government and state energy company PDVSA,
limiting rollover/renegotiation of existing debt,
preventing dividend payments back to the government from U.S. subsidiaries. Congress.gov+1
These financial sanctions were justified by the U.S. government on several grounds:
• Response to perceived anti-democratic actions:
The U.S. cited Venezuela’s undermining of democratic institutions, especially actions around the 2017 Constituent Assembly election, which opposition and many international observers considered a move to sideline the elected National Assembly. http://Congress.gov
• Human rights concerns and repression:
Sanctions stemmed from earlier legislation and executive actions targeting officials responsible for human rights abuses and repression of protesters (from 2014 onward), influenced by the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014. Wikipedia
• Allegations of corruption and economic mismanagement:
U.S. statements at the time described the Maduro government as a “dictatorship” and framed sanctions as a tool to restrict its access to capital and pressure for political change. Trump White House Archives
These sanctions were aimed at financial pressure to constrain the Maduro government, not specifically at humanitarian relief or commodity trading initially.
I argue these sanctions were designed to produce default, not prevent corruption.
“The borrower is servant to the lender.”
— Proverbs 22:7
These are all accusations that many have made about Trump as well. Funding a Genocide in Gaza? Funding Ukraine or selling the weapons that are contributing to the killing of the 30,000 people a week he claims to care about? @StephenMiller47 implying on CNN that international law(niceties) doesn't matter when you have power and military might which is the real law of the world? Have a listen: https://youtube.com/watch?v=kLFkQbPWWDI
These pretextual excuses while doing far worse is as hypocritical as one can get. Yes Maduro used the Judiciary to over ride the assembly. Was it right? maybe not but it wasn't America First to get involved over that and use it as an excuse to invade and steal resources when our government is the most monstrous and murderous government on the planet.
There were demonstrations in Venezuela from roughly April 2017 to July 2017 until they were dissipated and things have been fairly peaceful since then with the citizens accepting Maduro since then. Look how many demonstrations have taken place against Trump (No Kings, etc). Constantly violating laws and the Supreme Court and other courts overruling him? And Nato claims PUTIN Is bent on conquest? Who is manifesting Revelation 6:1 antichrist behavior now with his invasion of Venezuela, sights set on Columbia, Cuba, Greenland?? Canada?
When a nation is deliberately cut off from global finance, default becomes inevitable. This is not accountability — it is economic siege.
Sanctions weaponize debt. They do not protect human rights; they collapse societies.
IV. THE MORAL PROBLEM WITH USING CRIMINAL LAW AS GEOPOLITICS
I believe the indictments against Venezuelan leadership function as tools of regime change, not justice.
The pattern is familiar:
Declare an enemy
Criminalize leadership
Sanction the economy
Seize assets
Install compliance
Scripture condemns this abuse of power:
“You have plundered many nations; all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you.”
— Habakkuk 2:8
Justice does not begin with predetermined guilt.
If you want to read Max Blumenthal’s article which expounds on this corruption by the Trump administration, whom I am ashamed to have had to vote for, please read the following article here: Behind the DOJ’s politicized indictment of Maduro: a CIA-created ‘network’ and coerced star witness - The Grayzone
V. THE CIA, DRUG NARRATIVES, AND SELECTIVE MEMORY
Former intelligence officials such as Kevin Shipp and John Kiriakou have publicly argued that U.S. intelligence agencies have historically tolerated or facilitated narcotics trafficking when geopolitically convenient. See @redacted video here: Ex-CIA: "They don't want you to know the US Dollar is COLLAPSING"
I do not assert these claims as adjudicated fact — I assert that they raise serious moral questions.
Scripture warns against selective justice:
“You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality.”
— Deuteronomy 16:19
If drug trafficking is wrong, it is wrong universally, not only when politically useful.
VI. OIL, SILVER, AND THE REAL MOTIVE OF EMPIRE
I argue the conflict with Venezuela cannot be separated from:
Control of oil
Control of strategic minerals
Preservation of dollar dominance
When China and others challenge Western financial structures, pressure and retaliation follows.
Empires do not collapse quietly — they plunder louder. Please see my “BOMBSHELL PROPOSED CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT QUESTIONING WHETHER THE VENEZUELA INVASION AND KIDNAPPING OF MADURO WAS RETALIATION AGAINST CHINA FOR EXPOSING JP MORGAN AND COMEX SILVER MANIPULATION Here: https://x.com/4TheRepublicrat/status/2008373356412760474?s=20
VII. A BIBLICAL WARNING TO EMPIRES
Scripture is unequivocal about nations that enrich themselves through coercion:
“You have built your house by unrighteousness… using your neighbor’s service without wages.”
— Jeremiah 22:13
History shows that no empire escapes judgment.
I believe God’s law condemns:
Economic strangulation of nations
False justification for plunder
Weaponization of law against sovereignty
That judgment is not mine to execute — but it is God’s to declare.
CONCLUSION: WHO REALLY STOLE FROM WHOM?
Did Venezuela “steal” oil — or did it reclaim what was always its own?
Did sanctions protect democracy — or destroy a nation to force compliance?
Did justice guide these actions — or power?
Scripture ends where it began:
“He has shown you, O man, what is good: to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.”
— Micah 6:8
On that standard alone, I know where I stand AND WHERE WE ALL ARE COMMANDED TO STAND OR FACE ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES.
“To those who have ears to hear, I pray they hear’.
May The Grace, Mercy, and Peace Of The Lord Jesus Christ Be With You All,
In His Love,
WLBJ