In a move that reframes decades of hemispheric tension, President Trump announced what he called the largest oil agreement in history — a deal granting the United States majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan reserves, negotiated through Secretary of State Rubio alongside Venezuela's contested interim government. If realized, the arrangement would more than double American proven oil reserves and, the administration promises, deliver lasting relief at the gas pump. Yet history reminds us that the distance between a proclamation and its consequences is often measured i