Compiled with the help of artificial intelligence, based on Spanish-language information. Source below the article.
The Canary Islands occupy a prominent place on the radar of Alejandro Betancourt, the Venezuelan businessman who has rapidly shifted from major Latin American deals to becoming a key figure in Donald Trump’s Venezuela oil strategy. His promotion of the Islands’ energy potential carries particular weight given his profile. Now a magnate at 46, instrumental in the US securing a share of Venezuela’s crude reserves, and investigated in several countries for alleged corruption, Betancourt highlights on his business platform the opportunities the Archipelago offers in renewable energy, especially offshore wind and geothermal power.
No direct investments, but significant interest
These are not direct investments. For now, his relationship with the Canary Islands remains in the realms of interest, analysis and the promotion of business opportunities. Still, the references to the Canaries from an oligarch who, following the recent US agreement with post-Maduro Venezuela, has leapt into the global media spotlight, are striking. In one of his texts dedicated to offshore wind, Betancourt poses a question that sums up his interest in both the sector and the Islands: “Is there a future in offshore wind energy?” His answer is unequivocal: “Based on a long list of advantages, the answer seems to be yes.”
In the same article, he argues that offshore wind “has much more to offer” than onshore alternatives, highlighting that wind at sea is “far stronger,” a circumstance that allows turbines to operate for more hours each year. He also stresses “the subsidies available in the Canary Islands” for such initiatives. The reference to the Archipelago becomes more specific when the text turns to the Gofio project, promoted by Greenalia off the south-east coast of Gran Canaria. The scheme involves four floating wind turbines with a capacity of 50 megawatts. Betancourt’s published information states the project could supply 70,000 homes and prevent the emission of 140,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Geothermal potential of volcanic islands
His website also devotes specific space to geothermal energy, the power generated by the Earth’s heat, and here the Archipelago features even more prominently. “Being a region of volcanic origin, the Canary Islands is the great favourite for electricity generation from geothermal energy,” the businessman states in one of his texts. He adds that the islands are the “only region” in Spain with the high temperatures needed to harness this resource for electricity generation. The interest goes beyond a mere geographical reference. The text notes that the Canary Islands has more than 40 companies with geothermal installations for hot water and climate control, many linked to the tourism sector, citing the models of the Azores and Iceland as examples of what could be developed on the islands.
From ‘bolichicos’ to international expansion
Betancourt belongs to the group of young Venezuelan entrepreneurs known as the ‘bolichicos’, a label that has stuck with the group since their first major deals in Venezuela’s energy sector during the governments of Hugo Chávez. His international career soon extended into Spain and other markets. Spain was one of the first territories where that expansion took shape. Companies linked to the group were registered between 2009 and 2012 and amassed properties in Madrid and Toledo. The purchase of El Castillo del Alamín was even the subject of a report sent to the UDEF (Central Unit for Financial Crime) warning of “possible money laundering” in the transaction, as part of the investigations into the Marsans case. That investigation was later shelved.
Legal controversy has always surrounded Betancourt, who has diversified his investments into sectors including technology and fashion – he is the main shareholder of the eyewear brand Hawkers. Now it has resurfaced. The Audiencia Nacional (Spain’s High Court) reopened an investigation this summer into alleged money laundering and tax fraud after an initial dismissal by Judge Santiago Pedraz. The Spanish investigations relate to alleged operations linked to PDVSA funds and the subsequent movement of the money. Switzerland also has an open investigation into the businessman, while the United States has examined operations linked to suspected money laundering. Betancourt has not been convicted of these offences nor formally charged in the US, Spain, Switzerland or Venezuela, and denies any wrongdoing. He was, however, arrested in London in September 2025 following a request from the Spanish justice system on charges linked to money laundering, and was released on bail.
A key player in US-Venezuela oil strategy
The international dimension of his profile has grown alongside his proximity to the Trump administration. The businessman has become a significant piece in the new US strategy on Venezuelan oil through the company he controls outright, North American Blue Energy Partners. The firm has secured rights to exploit 17 oil fields in Venezuela. The US holds a 35% stake in the structure and obtains preferential terms on the crude produced. It is this operation that has placed Betancourt at the centre of a new energy architecture between Washington and Caracas.
But his business reach is not limited to the Venezuela-US-Spain axis. He has also set his sights on a country within the Canary Islands’ sphere of influence: Senegal. Betancourt is among the leading partners and shareholders of BDK Financial Group, which drove the opening of Banque de Dakar in 2015 with the aim of expanding across francophone Africa.
Contradiction between renewables and oil
While he speaks of decarbonisation, “sustainable growth” and renewable technologies in relation to the Canary Islands, his biggest current business move is tied to Venezuelan oil. In his article on offshore wind, he describes the energy source as one of those that “facilitate the transition towards sustainable growth,” while his international activity is now closely linked to hydrocarbons. That contradiction is part of the story. Betancourt does not need to have a plant in the Canary Islands today for the Archipelago to feature on his radar. One only has to look at which sectors he has chosen to highlight on his own platform and which characteristics of the territory he considers exploitable: offshore wind, due to wind conditions and water depth; geothermal energy, due to the islands’ volcanic origin; and the Archipelago’s position between Europe, the Americas and Africa. Together, these make the Canary Islands a space that fits within the logic of his international expansion.
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