Harry Sargeant III
American entrepreneur Harry Sargeant III, a key financier of the Republican Party and previously indicted for international corruption by the U.S. justice system, has become a pivotal figure in reshaping the oil relations between Washington and Caracas. According to Reuters, Sargeant is directly advising the Venezuelan regime on its new energy ties with the United States after the arrest of Nicolás Maduro in a recent U.S. military operation.
As per the agency, Sargeant’s involvement — who has had business ties with Venezuela since the 1980s and has negotiated with the Chavismo since at least 2018 — illustrates the Trump administration’s reliance on U.S. oil executives to determine how to manage Venezuela’s energy sector in this new phase. Moreover, he has been recognized as a leading lobbyist for the so-called “interim president” Delcy Rodríguez.
In this context, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States will refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude, while U.S. forces continue to confiscate oil tankers linked to Venezuela. According to Rubio, the revenue obtained will be managed under U.S. control, purportedly to benefit the Venezuelan people.
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Although Sargeant’s business interests in the country are smaller compared to those of industry giant Chevron, currently the only U.S. oil company authorized to export Venezuelan crude, his political weight is considerable. Reuters notes that Sargeant has a close relationship with Trump and frequents Mar-a-Lago, where he even plays golf with the president. Recently, he met with high-ranking officials from the Executive branch, including Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, to discuss investments in oil infrastructure and potential contractual terms that the Venezuelan regime might be willing to offer.
The asphalt magnate
Sargeant owns Global Oil Terminals and an energy conglomerate that, according to Bloomberg, is authorized to buy and export Venezuelan asphalt at least until 2026. Through his business group — Global Oil Management Group — he controls refining companies, maritime transportation, aviation, and alternative fuel development, in addition to operations in Panama and the Caribbean.
In January 2024, Bloomberg reported that the businessman acquired at least six shipments of asphalt from Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa), sent from Amuay to New York following a temporary sanctions relief granted by the Biden administration. Global Oil Terminals received about 95,000 barrels for infrastructure projects in the United States, protected by a two-year exemption issued by the U.S. Treasury.
Old acquaintances in Caracas
Sargeant’s connections with power in Venezuela are not new. In 2018, he directly met with Maduro, and that same year, he arrived in Caracas accompanied by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, president of Derwick Associates, a company under investigation in the U.S., Switzerland, and Spain.
Both businessmen also share a close relationship with lawyer and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was legal adviser to Trump and participated in discreet contacts between Washington and Caracas. In 2019, an investigation by the Washington Post revealed that Trump held a call with Maduro that also included Giuliani and then-Congressman Pete Sessions, in a secret attempt to reactivate businesses in Venezuela, an initiative that Sargeant publicly supported.
Profile and controversies
A graduate in business sciences and a former U.S. Naval pilot, Sargeant flew for 11 years before becoming a commercial pilot for Delta Air Lines and later taking over his family’s shipping business. His political influence has led him to donate more than two million dollars to Republican campaigns and to serve as the finance chairman of the Florida Republican Party from 2006 to 2009.
However, his business environment has been marked by scandals. In 2011, he was ordered to pay 28.8 million dollars in a dispute related to fuel supply contracts to the Pentagon in Iraq. Years later, his family became embroiled in the international bribery case involving Sargeant Marine, a company that pleaded guilty in 2020 and agreed to pay over 16 million dollars in fines, according to the Department of Justice.