The secret history of Trump's Venezuelan oil baron (axios.com)

President Trump's historic Venezuelan oil deal revolves around a colorful and controversial man from Caracas with a long history of supporting U.S. interests — including the operation to remove former strongman Nicolas Maduro. Why it matters: Alejandro Betancourt, 46, runs the oil company that's entering into an unprecedented partnership with the Pentagon. It gives America access to some of Venezuela's vast oil fields at a time when U.S. reserves are low. "No Betancourt, no energy-security deal," a U.S. official told Axios. "And Maduro might still be in power if it wasn't for him." Betancourt's life story has an oil-like boom-and-bust aura, replete with billion-dollar deals, international intrigue, a longstanding money-laundering probe and even a Spanish castle raided by authorities. Inside the room : As Trump demanded Maduro leave Venezuela last year, Betancourt played a crucial role feeling out Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on whether she would run the government as replacement. "There was no direct ask from Alejandro to Delcy; it was more getting a sense on where her head was at," said a second U.S. official briefed on the private talks between the two Venezuelans. Betancourt was in regular contact with Trump's unofficial Venezuela fixer, Mauricio Claver-Carone, and discussed how to keep oil flowing and the economy running in post-Maduro Venezuela. On Jan. 3 , when the U.S. military seized Maduro, Claver-Carone was communicating via phone with Betancourt, who was also communicating with Rodriguez. At first, Rodriguez "thought the U.S. had killed Maduro, that she had been double-crossed, and [she] was very angry and very scared," a Betancourt ally told Axios. "He had to talk her down, playing the good cop" and finally persuaded Rodriguez to talk with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio about taking charge in Venezuela. The backstory: Betancourt's relationship with the U.S. government began in Trump's first term, when Claver-Carone was the director of Western Hemisphere affairs for the National Security Council and the administration declared Maduro an illegitimate president. Trump became the first world leader to recognize the head of Venezuela's national assembly, Juan Guaido, as the nation's rightful leader in 2019. Betancourt acted as a go-between, linking Maduro's opposition with Venezuelan political figures and top-level military officials to build domestic support for a nonviolent, democratic transition to a Guaido government, said an opposition figure and Guaido's brother, Gustavo Guaido. Betancourt also traveled to Moscow to hand-deliver a letter on behalf of Guaido's government asking Russia to stop backing Maduro. Friction point: Maduro survived that U.S.-backed ouster effort. Betancourt fled. Maduro ordered his arrest and seized his assets and his oil company. Because of the legacy of socialist mismanagement, oil production on the fields of Betancourt's old business fell dramatically, harming Venezuela's fragile economy.