Six months after the US military operation in Venezuela and the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, the trail of huge sums of money seems to be lost on the shadowy route between Caracas and Washington.
According to calculations, the US government has collected more than $ 10 billion from Venezuelan oil sales by 2026. However, as the country sinks further into poverty after the deadly earthquakes in June, Caracas has received only… crumbs, while Congress is in complete darkness, demanding answers about where the billions really went.
Lost… a Quarter of Venezuela’s GDP
More specifically, the Trump administration has collected more than $13 billion in revenue from Venezuela’s oil sales, but has said almost nothing about what happened to that money.
Oil revenues account for about a quarter of Venezuela’s GDP, and the easing of sanctions was expected to provide a significant boost to the economy, which was in crisis even before last month’s devastating earthquakes.
But six months after the US seized control of the country’s capital, there is reportedly little sign of recovery in Venezuela… a possible sign that the US has not returned all of the revenue to Caracas.
Washington has given conflicting accounts of what it does with the money, ranging from a presidential decree describing its own role as a “custodian” to President Donald Trump declaring that the US is “making crazy money” from Venezuelan oil.
Congress demands explanation
U.S. lawmakers from both parties are beginning to pressure the administration to explain where the money has gone and what it is doing to prevent corruption surrounding its distribution.
“Trump’s invasion of Venezuela has been about oil, power and corruption from the very beginning, with billions of dollars in Venezuelan oil revenues being controlled by the Trump administration without transparency or safeguards,” said Joaquin Castro, a Democratic congressman, adding that Congress remains “in the dark.”
The Venezuelan government has set up a website to track oil sales revenues managed by the U.S., but it has only one entry… a $300 million transfer in March.
In a hearing on Tuesday (21/7/2026), María Elvira Salazar, a Republican congresswoman from South Florida, called for the funds’ reports to be made public because of “the importance of transparency about where the money goes.”
The fate of Venezuela’s oil resources has become even more pressing in the wake of two devastating earthquakes on June 24. The UN estimates the cost of damage to buildings and infrastructure alone will reach $37 billion.
Anemic economic growth
Venezuela is expected to see a strong economic recovery in 2026, given that until January the country was forced to sell oil at a significant discount on international markets to circumvent US sanctions. The government introduced a new resource law to encourage investment in oil and gas, and production has increased slightly this year.
The official first-quarter growth rate of 2.5% was the lowest in nearly five years. Oil revenues should be much higher for Venezuela than they have been in recent years. Where is the money? There is no transparency, and the US government is not keeping the Venezuelan government informed.
