A top White House priority for Venezuela in the aftermath of Nicolás Maduro is restarting and ramping up the country's oil production. But that's a tall order given many years of decaying and neglected infrastructure. Despite that Maduro's VP, now acting President Delcy Rodriguez, is currently running the country, there are still fears there could be a power vacuum if hostile forces challenge Caracas.

There's not just the question of a political challenge, or even military insurgency which could further destabilize the country, but the role of the cartels. All of this political and security uncertainty surrounds the question of rebooting the ailing oil industry - which though sitting atop the world's biggest proven oil reserves, has a derelict and largely defunct infrastructure for getting it out of the ground and refining.

Major oil companies are now being courted by the administration, which must convince them they can operate in enough safety to be successful, not just for the coming months, but for years down the line. 

President Trump, however, is reportedly wary of placing American boots on the ground for what will be seen at home as another indefinite foreign occupation.

CNN reports Thursday that one administration plan being mulled right now is tapping military contractors, or mercenaries, to protect Venezuela's oil industry as American companies move in.

"Discussions about how to secure those assets remain in the early stages, sources said. Still, multiple private security companies are already jockeying to get involved in the US presence in Venezuela, according to a person familiar with the matter," the report describes. "Interest is high given the potential payday; during the Iraq War, the US spent some $138 billion on private security, logistics and reconstruction contractors."

CNN continues, "Last week, the Department of Defense put out a Request for Information to contractors about their ability to support possible US military operations in Venezuela, the person said." And already, "Contractors are also in touch with the State Department’s overseas building operations office to cite interest in providing security if and when the US embassy in Venezuela re-opens."

One military firm founder highlighted that going private is another aspect of "investment" in conquering and subjugating a foreign country Venezuela's energy industry "coming back" to the American people:

“Foreign investment comes back, and when it does, it brings a bunch of Navy SEAL dudes and Green Beret dudes and ninjas to keep them alive and safe,” Stern said. “It’ll look a lot like that in Venezuela.”

Turning to private contractors is certain to invite scrutiny. Over the past two decades, the US has relied heavily at times on private contractors, especially during the height of the Iraq War. But they were marred in controversy, from killing Iraqi civilians to allegations of war profiteering

Indeed, it's never a good look when Washington's talk of "liberating" a people from a "tyrant" quickly results in trigger-happy foreign mercenaries rolling into your local neighborhood barking orders backed by endless firepower - all for a cool hundreds of dollars per hour.

US oil companies are up against significant risk, with few "guarantees" given the billions what will need to be invested...

But at the very least, US oil majors which get deeper in extracting Venezuela's oil will be hiring their own security, at least on some level. Whether the Trump administration gets directly involved in writing major contracts for mercenary firms remains to be seen. Usually Erik Prince is circling the Pentagon right about now.