Venezuela: Oil, democracy or both?

OPINION:

President Trump’s proposed oil agreement with Venezuela has left pundits and politicians around the world intrigued and confused.

He and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have rightfully presented the agreement as a strategic and historic energy security breakthrough: The United States would receive majority effective control over output from a new venture tied to 17 Venezuelan oil fields for 100 years.

Those fields total 65 billion barrels of crude.

A stable, albeit long-term, production recovery will diversify oil supply sources and lessen exposure to global disruptions.

Venezuela possesses more than 300 billion barrels of proven reserves, the world’s largest, but its oil industry has suffered from underinvestment, operational decay, political intervention, sanctions and massive corruption.

The deal is unusual and complex. It gives the U.S. government, rather than private business, a direct stake in a foreign oil operation, North American Blue Energy Partners. The organization secured the rights from Venezuela’s interim government.

Politically, the U.S. also gains an important foothold in a country that until recently served as the epicenter of anti-U.S. operations in the Americas.

Yet it is concerning that the deal was brokered through interim President Delcy Rodriguez. Ms. Rodriguez’s corrupt tentacles run far and deep, and she continues to surround herself with nefarious officials accused of the most heinous crimes.

Under the Chavez and Maduro regimes, Ms. Rodriguez served in key roles, including vice president, foreign minister, minister of economy and finance, and minister of petroleum and hydrocarbons. An unrepentant socialist, she spent her entire political career hating America.

She has also been sanctioned by the U.S., Colombia, Canada and the European Union.

Ms. Rodriguez’s Cabinet members continue to draw fear and suspicion at home and abroad. Former Defense Minister and current Agriculture Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Gustavo Gonzalez Lopez have all been sanctioned by foreign governments for corruption and human rights abuses.

Then there is Alejandro Betancourt. The Trump administration’s interlocutor in Venezuela is well-known to all sides. As the CEO of North American Blue Energy Partners, he is considered important to advancing U.S. energy security, but his opaque deal-making history and less-than-stellar reputation make him a major political risk.

According to European court filings and international law enforcement reports, Switzerland has issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Betancourt, and he remains under investigation in Spain. Most Venezuelans believe he enriched himself through his closeness to and corruption with the discredited Chavez and Maduro regimes.

Another major concern is that once foreign investors, particularly U.S. firms, commit billions of dollars to long-term projects, they will feel compelled to support the status quo rather than risk renegotiating deals with a successor democratic government.

Ms. Rodriguez is an illegitimate president ruling over an illegitimate regime. She is a political survivor who will say and do anything to stay in power. She and her corrupt cabal created Venezuela’s problems, so they cannot possibly be the solution.

The Trump administration should demand the immediate release of all remaining political prisoners — numbering more than 300 according to Venezuelan rights group Foro Penal. The U.N. Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela similarly noted in its latest report that the state’s repressive apparatus remains largely intact. It must be dismantled.

The ministers of defense, interior and agriculture must be removed, along with their associates and family members, who are ensconced throughout the government bureaucracy.

For example, Ms. Rodriguez’s brother is president of the National Assembly, and Mr. Cabello’s daughter is minister of tourism.

Messrs. Cabello and Padrino Lopez are both named in U.S. Department of Justice narco-terrorism indictments and remain on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s wanted list. Any further dealings with Ms. Rodriguez’s interim regime should be conditioned on their immediate surrender to U.S. law enforcement.

These people’s involvement with the narco-trafficking Cartel of the Suns cannot be overstated and must not be ignored.

Equally important: National, state and local elections should be definitively announced for next year.

Ms. Rodriguez and her cabal of criminals are dangerous to Venezuelan democracy and regional security. Like Iran and Cuba, they are playing the long game, stalling and acquiescing while hoping for a more favorable political climate after the U.S. midterm elections.

The longer it takes to restore Venezuela’s democracy, the greater the risk that the country will slide into a Russian-style oligarchy of the corrupt, favored and insider few.

Maintaining U.S. control over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves is a sound strategic move, particularly against Russia and China. Yet the United States must ensure that Mr. Trump’s agreement is the first stop — not the only stop — on Venezuela’s road to democracy.

• Emilio T. Gonzalez is a retired U.S. intelligence officer who has served in senior positions in the U.S. Army, on the National Security Council and within the Department of Homeland Security.