Trump, the US and a Blackout: What Cut Off Venezuela's Grid?
Experts Say Grid Disruption Amid Venezuela Operation Signals Cyber's Expanding Role
All I can do is guess. Might there be recent news perhaps touching those two Wiki items? That consideration would be for another post. After a day or two where readers might look online on their own first. Might Marco Rubio be running a [fuguratuve] prostitution ring from Miami? Recruiting [figurative] whores? Involving whoever. With ties to where ever? And [figurative] usage suggests that Rubio's portfolio is Foreign Policy, so that's then speculating what's Trump aims and actions toward Valenzuela these days which might guide Marco? As to what relations in particular he'd want his friends to have in that nation, friends from inside it, friends from outside it, what ties?
What current news might one look toward?
Again, we're all just guessing, each as we might.
_________________UPDATE______________
This firm was mentioned in one of the Wiki hints: https://www.proenergyservices.com/news-and-events/press-room/
It seems a technical consultancy and infrastructure provider for turbine generation development, which might be lower capital cost for an installation but higher operating cost. What might appeal to nations short on capital but with turbine-firing energy sourcing. And if an intermediary "negotiation" firm might be short on technical expertise, long on personal connections, it would be backup on the tech end.
Not to imply or suggest that ProEnergy has any tie to the post's opening story line, in its engineering of third-world power solutions. And while DOJ had a look, per the one wiki, no charges were filed.
It goes on doing business good for the USA.
___________FURTHER UPDATE__________
ProEnergy has a wiki entry, which mentions " involvement in developing plants with Derwick Associates in Venezuela." Also, "ProEnergy Services is an American, Missouri-based energy company that provides third party services for energy and manufacturing firms, including construction, management, operations, maintenance, and repair services for energy generation facilities, and equipment in several industries. ProEnergy offers over 200 energy and industrial related services with clients in forty nations around the world, including Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Panama, Pakistan and Angola."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Betancourt_L%C3%B3pez
All for now.
FURTHER: Accessing Crunchbase a bit, this
The owner of ProEnergy Services is Energy Capital Partners, which acquired the company on September 5, 2024. ProEnergy Services is an American energy company that provides third-party services for energy and manufacturing firms, headquartered in Sedalia, Missouri, United State
Earlier through Crunchbase, the privately held ProEnergy Services firm seems, through intermediary Provate Equity, to trace ultimately to a UK entity. Possibly beyond?
Old news. Last December.
Current news. Aug. 27, 2026.
And Venezuela oil is viscous and sour, not North Sea Brent Crude. We'll see. But that's a step away from how did the US War Machine know how to shut down the Caracas power while snatching Maduro.
Several steps.
FURTHER: Try another step, make it the last step = guess who -
Oil in Venezuela, research in Cuba: Inside Epstein’s ties to Latin America
During a Nov. 19, 2012, lunch meeting with Epstein, D'Agostino discussed a business opportunity with him -- oil.
The correspondence and a copy of a nondisclosure agreement reviewed by the Herald show that the discussion was about Venezuelan company Derwick Associates' joint venture with PDVSA to explore the oil fields along the Orinoco River in the southern part of the country -- the largest petroleum reserves in the world.
Derwick Associates' chairman is Alejandro Betancourt López, whom D'Agostino introduced to Epstein.
The records suggest that one of the topics of discussion at D'Agostino's meeting with Epstein was the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a federal law aimed at preventing the bribery of foreign officials for business gain.
Two years later, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department was probing Derwick's business dealings in Venezuela for potential corruption -- an allegation that Derwick has denied. The Manhattan district attorney's office was also investigating the company for potential violations of New York banking laws, the report said.
In 2017, the Venezuelan regime, having passed into Maduro's hands after Chávez's death, also announced an investigation into the company for the "spectacular overpricing" of Orinoco oil contracts, according to Reuters.
[...]
Earlier -
A ‘fun’ friendship: Emails in Epstein files detail his links to Venezuela’s elite By Antonio María Delgado and Ana Claudia Chacin February 17, 2026 1:25 PM
[...]
In another email, D’Agostino outlined a series of introductions he could arrange for Epstein during a proposed trip to Venezuela — a list that reads like a cross-section of the country’s power structure at the height of Chávez’s influence.
He proposed meetings with Baldo Sansó, described as a financial advisor to PDVSA and brother-in-law of then–oil minister Rafael Ramírez; General Alejandro Andrade, head of Venezuela’s treasury and a close Chávez ally; and Jorge Hernández, whom he characterized as “one of Chavez closest friends.”
He also mentioned Yuchi Chen, described as the Chinese government’s representative in Venezuela overseeing bilateral agreements — a key role at a time when Beijing was extending billions of dollars in oil-backed loans to Caracas.
Beyond political insiders, D’Agostino suggested introductions to major private-sector figures, including telecom executives Eduardo Stigol of Intercable and Oswaldo Cisneros of Digitel — whom he described as “probably the wealthiest Venezuelan” — as well as banker José María Nogueroles, owner of BNC, the institution D’Agostino indicated they were interested in acquiring.
He also highlighted Alejandro Betancourt, co-founder of Derwick Associates, noting that the then-34-year-old businessman had secured more than $3 billion in government contracts and calling him a “very very interesting kid.”
[Screenshot of e-mail correspondence sent to Jeffrey Epstein from Francisco D’Agostino, included in the Department of Justice’s release of the Epstein files. Screenshot of e-mail correspondence sent to Jeffrey Epstein from Francisco D’Agostino, included in the Department of Justice’s release of the Epstein files.]The breadth of names — spanning oil, finance, telecommunications, banking, the military and Chinese state interests — underscores the level of access D’Agostino was signaling he could provide as he courted Epstein’s business.
In a Nov. 6, 2012, email, he wrote: “Alejandro Betancourt, my business partner, and I are available to meet you Monday November 19th. Shall we have lunch? Your place?”
Though they floated several dates for possible meetings in Caracas, it remains unclear whether Epstein ever made it.
[...] In 2019, both D’Agostino and Epstein came under scrutiny from U.S. authorities. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned D’Agostino for allegedly operating in Venezuela’s oil sector and materially assisting PDVSA after Washington imposed sweeping restrictions on the industry.
“D’Agostino was designated today for operating in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy and because he has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for goods and services to back PDVSA,” Treasury said at the time.
Epstein was arrested the same year by federal authorities for charges related to alleged sexual abuse years earlier at Epstein’s homes in Palm Beach and Manhattan.
Coincidental circumstances exist, according to web info, including Trump telling Bondi friends would get trouble if full Epstein files were released. No online source seems to indicate any such "friends" by name.
Although there has been speculation, no "Epstein List" has been found. Epstein's hanging death, happened, and MTG and others thereafter made Epstein matters a cause to explore.
FURTHER: Betencort and Derwick are mentioned here.
Derwick Associates’ chairman is Alejandro Betancourt López, whom D’Agostino introduced to Epstein.
The records suggest that one of the topics of discussion at D’Agostino’s meeting with Epstein was the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a federal law aimed at preventing the bribery of foreign officials for business gain.
[image omitted]
Two years later, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department was probing Derwick’s business dealings in Venezuela for potential corruption — an allegation that Derwick has denied. The Manhattan district attorney’s office was also investigating the company for potential violations of New York banking laws, the report said.
In 2017, the Venezuelan regime, having passed into Maduro’s hands after Chávez’s death, also announced an investigation into the company for the “spectacular overpricing” of Orinoco oil contracts, according to Reuters.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on D’Agostino in 2021 for coordinating the trade of Venezuelan oil on behalf of PDVSA, which it accused of being the Maduro regime’s “primary conduit for corruption to exploit and profit from Venezuela’s natural resources.” The Trump administration lifted the sanctions against D’Agostino last year.
“I met Mr. Epstein only a few times to discuss business opportunity in Venezuela oil sector that did not materialize [sic],” D’Agostino said in a statement to the Herald. “I decided not to engage in any dealings with Mr. Epstein subsequently.”
Betancourt’s Miami-based attorney told the Herald that D’Agostino had introduced his client to Epstein but that Betancourt never did business with him and did not attend the November meeting.
“After the initial introduction, Mr. Betancourt never spoke to or corresponded with Epstein, nor did Epstein ever invest with my client,” he said. “Mr. Betancourt had no relationship with Epstein, business or personal.”
The Justice Department and the Manhattan district attorney’s office did not answer the Herald’s questions about whether Epstein was also part of their probes into Derwick.
Federal officers arrested Epstein in July 2019 on sex-trafficking charges. He was found dead in federal custody in Lower Manhattan a month later on Aug. 10, 2019.
[links in the original were lost in doing a text copy]
So Epstein was disavowed by the Betencort camp. Nothing Crabgrass found online contradicts the disavowal.
Betencort is now a focal part of the vehicle by which Trump is artfully dealing in Venezuelan oil ostensibly for the benefit of the USA. Epstein remains dead.