Short-term tactical wins don't guarantee long-term dominance. While recent moves have secured control over Venezuelan crude exports, the real challenge emerges on a grander scale—the global competition for energy resources that power AI infrastructure.

Here's the catch: securing oil fields is one thing. But competing globally for the massive electrical capacity needed to fuel AI data centers? That's an entirely different ballgame. China isn't just watching from the sidelines either.

The energy demand for AI computing is skyrocketing. Whoever controls the power—literally—holds the keys to AI supremacy. That means securing not just fossil fuels, but renewable energy capacity, rare earth minerals, and infrastructure that can handle unprecedented computational loads.

The Venezuelan oil play looks like yesterday's victory. Tomorrow's battle will be fought over who can power the next generation of AI systems. Energy scarcity could become the new bottleneck that reshapes global markets and investment flows.