Who is Alejandro Betancourt, ex-Chavez ally now Trump’s Venezuela oil man?

Controversial Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, who amassed massive fortunes under former socialist President Hugo Chavez and who has faced investigations into alleged money laundering, has been tapped by the Trump administration to lead a new US-backed oil venture in the Latin American nation.On Friday, President Donald Trump announced that the US has reached a deal with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez under which Washington will acquire majority control over more than 65 billion barrels’ worth of proven oil reserves.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Venezuela says it retains ‘sovereignty’ following US oil deallist 2 of 3Delcy Rodriguez says Venezuela ‘retains sovereignty’ despite US oil deallist 3 of 3Trump says US will refill its petroleum reserves using Venezuelan oilend of listAs part of the deal, the US government plans to take a 35 percent passive stake in Betancourt’s North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) – Venezuela’s second-largest oil firm.In a statement, Betancourt said Venezuela is “blessed with an abundance of natural resources, hardworking people and untapped potential”, adding that the deal will “unleash that potential to t...