according to author thomas m. leonard, venezuela's oil garnered "intense interest" from the allies and the axis, both before and during world war ii. thus, venezuela's main strategic goal from 1939 to 1945 was to protect its oil from being seized by a belligerent nation. closely related to this goal was the need to market oil, which had become the mainstay of the venezuelan economy. leonard says that the war could, ideally, have resulted in an "economic boom" if venezuela could maintain a policy of strict neutrality and sell oil to both sides. however, neither the axis or the allies were likely to tolerate such a situation, and in the end, venezuela sided with the allies.