Venezuela Chevron oil deal is dead, for now. We can thank Rubio, Miami Republicans

Miami Herald

6 days ago

When Chevron's oil license in Venezuela expired Tuesday, Miami Republicans in Congress and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, another Miamian, notched a big foreign policy win — and offered a bit of much-needed good news for Miami-Dade's Venezuelan immigrant community.
The victory comes in spite of a push by Richard Grenell, President Trump's envoy for special missions who has been at odds with Rubio, to allow an extension of the American company's license to produce and export Venezuelan oil.
For a while, it seemed that Grenell's vision of continuing the Chevron deal for at least 60 days would succeed. Last week, he announced there would be a Chevron license extension after saying he'd negotiated an agreement with Venezuela to release a U.S. military veteran detained there.
The release of Joe St. Clair happened. But the announcement of the extension turned out to be premature. Last week, Miami's three Cuban American members of Congress seized a chance to fight the license extension. In a vote on Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' on taxes and spending, they unexpectedly cast 'no' votes, a politically savvy move at a moment when there was a razor-thin margin for approval. That's when the landscape shifted.
Suddenly, Chevron's Treasury Department license was dead. And the votes by U.S. Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, Mario Diaz Balart and Carlos Gimenez changed into 'yeses,' as first reported by Axios.
Critics — Salazar, Diaz Balart, Gimenez and Rubio leading the way — have argued for years that allowing Chevron to continue its operations in Venezuela was effectively helping support the socialist dictatorship of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. They had counted on the Trump administration to see things their way. Their fury when that apparently wasn't the case nearly stopped Trump's signature legislation.
All of this started when the Biden administration allowed Chevron to resume operations in the South American country in 2022. It was pitched as a democracy-building move: Maduro's government and Venezuelan opposition leaders had agreed to a humanitarian relief program and to continue talking about 'free and fair' elections.
But elections in Venezuela have been far from that ideal — including the most recent 2024 presidential election, in which the opposition cast serious doubt on Maduro's 'win' and the U.S. said the opposition candidate had won — and the country continues to spiral downward economically. Over seven million Venezuelans have left their country since 2014, with many coming to South Florida.
Those who wanted Chevron to stay in Venezuela have said its economic impact helps prevent further economic collapse. That may be true. And a worsening economy would no doubt trigger more human suffering and migration.
Also, without Chevron, there's the worry that the vacuum in Venezuela may be filled by other companies. As Chevron's CEO Mike Wirth said in a May 4 interview on Fox News, 'historically that's been Chinese companies, Russian companies and others that are not necessarily in America's interest.' We can't forget that Venezuela's large oil reserves continue to be of global importance.
Rubio has for many years been one of the staunchest voices advocating for a tough stance against Maduro (and for Venezuelans to be granted Temporary Protected Status, though that's certainly not the case now.) So for him, putting an end to Chevron's license is a particularly significant win. It also shows he's in a position of strength in the Trump administration.
But how much of a win will all of this really be? There has been discussion of allowing Chevron to leave in place its equipment and structures and do minimal maintenance. If there's a reversal of policy by the Trump administration in months or years — and Trump has certainly showed he can reverse himself with a moment's notice — would Chevron be poised to go back into action in Venezuela?
For now, it's been encouraging to see Miami's Republican members of Congress stand up for their constituents so strongly, even in the face of headwinds from the Trump administration. They need to remember the appalling situation facing some 350,000 Venezuelans on TPS who may face deportation after the Trump administration revoked their status.
They did Chevron; now do TPS.
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