Trump’s Plan for Venezuelan Oil Raises Prospects of Paramilitary Violence

Inside Climate News · By Dylan Baddour · last updated January 22, 2026 – 11:45 PM

Latin America has lots of experience with private military contractors protecting foreign companies in lawless conflict zones. It seldom goes well.

By Dylan Baddour

There is a sense of deja vu in the jungles of South America to the Trump Administration’s calls for private security contractors to protect the entrance of U.S. oil companies to Venezuela.

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