Venezuela's Buried Treasure: Why Trump's Plan Faces Huge Hurdles

• Venezuela holds the world's largest proven oil reserves (303 billion barrels) and vast gold deposits in the Guiana Shield, making it geopolitically significant.
• Despite immense resources, Venezuela faces destitution due to decades of mismanagement, political instability, and decaying infrastructure.
• Orinoco Belt's extra-heavy crude is costly to extract, requiring advanced technology and infrastructure that PDVSA lacks; pipelines and refineries are dilapidated.
• Gold mining in the Guiana Shield is largely illegal, causing environmental damage (deforestation, mercury pollution) and violence, with no government control.
• Trump's plan for US companies like Chevron to invest faces challenges like $58 billion infrastructure repair, skilled labor exodus, sanctions, and legal claims.

Why It Matters: Venezuela's vast resources are useless without strong governance, stable infrastructure, and advanced technology.