[Hac-announce] Fwd: My family built Venezuela’s petrostate

Sat Feb 21 12:13:45 EST 2026

See article on the history of Venezuelan oil. I think it will be of 
special interest to those who were at the November 17 HAC Timely Topics 
meeting, "Venezuela and the curse of its oil". The article is not a 
short one, but I think you'll find it interesting even if you read only 
part.

Manny

Link to article: 
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/02/20/venezuela-oil-petrostate-erwin-arrieta-history-00765480?nid=0000018f-3124-de07-a98f-3be4d1400000&nname=politico-toplines&nrid=e70b6718-81b0-484d-96df-c6469d3c1c71 

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-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	My family built Venezuela’s petrostate
Date: 	Sat, 21 Feb 2026 16:39:18 +0000 (UTC)
From: 	POLITICO Weekend <politicoweekend at email.politico.com>
To: 	manny at ratafias.com

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Text reads: Trump Wants Venezuela's Oil. He Needs to Know My Family History.

A photo collage of photos of Erwin Arrieta with map of Venezuela and oil 
wells. 
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When U.S. President Donald Trump announced that America will temporarily 
“run” Venezuela with the help of U.S. oil companies, POLITICO reporter 
Isa Domínguez thought of her family history — one that carries striking 
lessons for the future of U.S.-Venezuela relations.

“More than a century ago, my paternal third great-grandfather, Juan 
Vicente Gómez — who declared himself president following a coup — 
launched the nation’s petroleum industry. It was a move that made 
Venezuela, for a brief moment, one of the richest countries in Latin 
America. But ultimately, the rich got richer while the poor got poorer,” 
Domínguez writes.

Decades later, her maternal grandfather tried to set things right as 
Venezuela’s oil czar. But then, in 1998, the election of Hugo Chávez 
changed everything.

*Read the story* 
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