Florida tycoon is behind oil-for-migrants deal U.S. reached with Venezuelan strongman [View all]

Source: Miami Herald

Florida tycoon is behind oil-for-migrants deal U.S. reached with Venezuelan strongman

Antonio Maria Delgado, Jay Weaver
Fri, February 7, 2025 at 1:25 PM EST·10 min read

A Florida magnate with close ties to the Republican Party helped set up the recent meeting between Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and President Donald Trump’s special envoy, laying the groundwork for a major deal that would allow the Caracas regime to boost its oil sales to the United States in exchange for accepting hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan deportees.

Sources familiar with the negotiations told the Miami Herald that Palm Beach County-based businessman Harry Sargeant III, a major GOP donor who has sought to expand his prior oil and asphalt dealings in Venezuela, worked behind the scenes to facilitate the meeting between Maduro and the envoy, Richard Grenell, a diplomat during Trump’s first term in office.

Their talks led to a deal in which the socialist strongman agreed to accept future flights of Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration — a decision that immediately enraged Venezuelans in South Florida with temporary status who now fear they will be sent back to a nation that has suffered economic collapse under Maduro’s authoritarian rule.

The question that immediately arose for observers after the stunning news last week was whether strings were attached to the deal: What was Maduro promised by the U.S. government in exchange for agreeing to take back Venezuelans deportees?

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