Harry Sargeant III
Journalist César Batiz, director of El Pitazo, conducted a thorough investigation into American businessman Harry Sargeant III and his connections to the regime of Nicolás Maduro. According to information obtained from Reuters, Sargeant visited Venezuela in 2017 seeking oil agreements, despite the sanctions imposed by the Donald Trump administration. Surpringly, he was welcomed with military honors and taken directly to Fuerte Tiuna, where he met face-to-face with Maduro.
During that meeting, the regime’s leader expressed his interest in attracting U.S. investments to save the crumbling oil sector. Shortly after, Sargeant signed agreements with Pdvsa through his company EREPLA Services LLC, committing to invest up to $500 million in Venezuelan oil fields. However, with the implementation of new sanctions in 2019, these contracts were left in limbo.
Despite this setback, Sargeant maintained his ties with chavismo. According to sources cited by El Pitazo, Delcy Rodríguez explicitly asked him to support media campaigns to undermine the interim government of Juan Guaidó. In exchange, he allegedly received new contracts under the Anti-Blockade Law, in conditions of total secrecy.
Furthermore, the investigation reveals that Sargeant had partnered with figures such as Alejandro Betancourt, Francisco Convit, Pedro Trebau and Orlando Alvarado to operate in PetroZamora, a mixed company originally formed by Pdvsa, Russians from Gazprombank, and the so-called “bolichicos” from Derwick.
A key part of the investigation shows how Sargeant, despite being a longtime Republican donor, took advantage of the temporary relaxation of sanctions during the Biden administration to sign contracts that allowed him to export Venezuelan asphalt to the U.S. However, this license was revoked by Donald Trump’s campaign on April 2, 2025, abruptly cutting off his business with chavismo.
To learn more about how an American businessman maneuvered between Democrats, Republicans, and Maduro’s regime, and how this impacted Venezuelan oil interests, we invite you to watch the full analysis video by César Batiz on El Pitazo.