Venezuela Is Not Alone: Oil Industry’s Extraction of Land and People Under Racial Capitalism

The oil industry is sustained by racial capitalism – racial capitalism refers to the intertwined nature of capitalism and racism, through which oil companies make profits through extractive activities that harm Black, Brown, and Indigenous people and the land.

This oppression involves health harm, violence, and environmental degradation, and is often perpetuated by the actions of legislators and companies in the US.

Oil operations emit air pollutants that drive climate change, perpetuate the plastic pollution and petrochemical expansion crises, contaminates and degrades soil health, poisons water, and causes serious public health concerns – cancer, reproductive health harms, and developmental disruptions.

In South LA, as across the world, the majority of those facing this challenge are Black, Brown, and Indigenous; and as is often the case, women.

Recently, the oil industry’s role in racial capitalism can be seen in Venezuela, where the country’s large oil reserves have made headlines. On January 3rd 2026, US President Trump used military force to invade Venezuela and abduct their president, Nicolás Maduro. He claimed that the removal of the Venezuelan President is due to concern for their people: “We can’t take the chance that someone else takes over Venezuela who doesn’t have the interest of Venezuelans in mind”.

Trump claims that “We will run the country until such times as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.” Though Trump suggests a motivation to protect Venezuelan people, he simultaneously boasts plans to take control of the Country’s oil reserves and has hosted major oil company executives at the White House to seek investment.

American entities being able to access and control Venezuelan oil perpetuates racial capitalism and colonialism, as it involves extractive activities that only benefit these American entities at the expense of Venezuelan communities of color.

Venezuela currently holds the largest oil reserves globally; an estimated 303 billion barrels of oil which totals 20% of the world’s reserves. These oil reserves are predominantly located in the Orinoco River Basin, a landmass of 55,000 square kilometers. Along with the oil reserves, the Indigenous peoples of Guaica, Maquiritare, Guahibo, Yaruro, Yanomami, and Warao also reside within this area.

The takeover of Venezuela’s oil claims to promote the economy of both Venezuela and the US, but this propaganda is being pushed to reduce public awareness and outrage over the colonization of another country. This claim is based on the fact that money will circulate in both countries (one as the oil provider and the other as the oil processors).

However, the extraction, processing, and production of Venezuela’s oil will do little in improving the economy of either country. Venezuela’s oil is heavy, which means that it will be costly to extract and refine the oil, in order for the end product to be marketable. 

If Venezuelan oil is exported to the US, it is expected to be refined in communities along the Gulf Coast, which are predominantly Black communities already overburdened by oil refinement, petrochemical production, and plastic production.

Refining heavy crude oil releases three times more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases than lighter crude oil types. People living near or working at refineries are exposed to: atmospheric pollutants that put 1 in 53 residents at risk for developing cancer due to low air quality.

A concern for women in those communities is the disruption of reproductive systems. This is the reality for Black communities in the southeastern portion of Texas, where over a dozen refineries are active.

What’s happening in Venezuela is part of a long history of US sanctioned violence for the sake of oil procurement. For instance, the US invaded Libya for oil, many now agree that the Iraq war was for oil, and the US has been one of the largest foreign investors in Nigerian crude oil.

For the past fifty years Nigeria’s Niger Delta has been the 6th largest producer of crude oil. At present, the Niger Delta is being abandoned by big oil companies, who plundered more than the land can take without proper care during and after oil drilling. Improper care has also led to frequent oil spills in the area. Spilled crude oil exposes the land to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) causing degradation of soil health, highly contaminated water, and reduced health outcomes. PAHs are known to be endocrine disrupting chemicals, directly impacting reproductive health and causing miscarriages, infertility, hormonal imbalance, and irregular menstruation cycles.

The women of the Otuabagi community are living with these reproductive harms, as they reside in the Niger Delta where active oil drilling and careless oil spills have occurred for decades. Shell, Mobil, and Chevron are the top US oil companies that have participated in the extraction of over 101.4 metric tons of crude oil from the Niger Delta, accumulating millions of dollars that the Nigerian people have received little to none of. Their payment instead came in the form of environmental destruction and dangerous health conditions.

The Indigenous people of the Orinoco River Basin in Venezuela, the people of the Niger Delta, Southeast Texas, and South LA have faced decades of harm, land degradation, reproductive disruptions, and cancer. Oil corporations backed by the US have knowingly caused environmental and health harms in communities of color in the name of profit. 

As a community-based reproductive justice organization, Black Women for Wellness is guided by the truth that all people deserve full bodily autonomy and to exist in a safe and healthy environment. In alignment with these core beliefs, we condemn the US government’s invasion of Venezuela and we stand in solidarity with our sister environmental justice communities around the world as we collectively fight for our human right to clean air, water, and soil. 

To learn more about our work, check out bwwla.org.

Sources

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