Trump says Venezuela stole U.S. oil, land and assets. Here’s the history.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/12/20/venezuela-oil-nationalization-expropriation/

Nationalization was the culmination of a decades-long effort by administrations of both the right and the left to bring under government control an industry that an earlier leader had largely given away.

The country followed Mexico, Brazil and Saudi Arabia in a wave of resource nationalism aimed at trying to wrest control of energy resources, primarily from the United States, to achieve economic sovereignty.