Activists from the center-right political movement “Encuentro Ciudadano” (EC) take part in a protest once morest once morest the Russian invasion in Ukraine in front of the European Union building in Caracas on March 3, 2022. (Photo by Yuri CORTEZ / AFP) (Photo by YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
When the United States recognized the opposition Juan Guaidó as the legitimate president of Venezuela in January 2019, it marked the political line to follow during a few years marked by the sanctions once morest the Government of Nicolás Maduro. More than three years later, and under the pretext of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Washington and Caracas smooth out rough edges and exchange timid gestures of rapprochement.
Last weekend there was the highest-level contact on record between the two governments. A delegation from the Joe Biden Administration traveled to Caracas with the objective declared by the White House of achieving the release of US citizens and, “of course”, discussing energy security issues.
Not surprisingly, Biden has not hidden his desire to reduce global dependence on oil and gas from Russia in retaliation for the military offensive on Ukraine, so that energy sources are no longer a burden when it comes to taking measures once morest Vladimir Putin and his entourage, now or in the future.
Washington, which only depends 3 percent on Russian oil, has promised to increase domestic crude oil production, but knowing that it is insufficient to compensate for the blockade once morest Moscow, it is also looking towards the country that would have the largest reserves in all the world and that, precisely due to the North American sanctions, maintains a meager production.
In two decades, the daily production of crude oil in Venezuela has gone from three million barrels to barely 800,000, so the margin to increase it is more than evident. For this, the Venezuelan industry needs to lift at least part of the sanctions and to be able to sell the product in the global market.
For now, neither party has commented on this option, which would be on the table according to information published by various US media from sources in the Biden Administration. It remains to be seen when, how and above all under what political justification this 180-degree turn in Washington’s line is framed.
THE WELCOME OF MADURO
According to Maduro, the meeting was “respectful, cordial, very diplomatic” and from it came the common commitment to continue talking. “We have agreed to work on an agenda from the respect and hope of the world, in order to advance an agenda that allows for the well-being and peace of the peoples of the region,” he said Monday night.
In the field of energy, Maduro, who has come out publicly in defense of Putin following the invasion, declares himself “activated”, without his government having offered anything concrete for now. “Venezuela will be at the forefront of the initiatives to stabilize the oil market,” the Venezuelan president said in his public address.
As a first gesture, the Venezuelan authorities have ordered the release of two citizens whom the United States considered “arbitrarily” detained in the South American country: Gustavo Adolfo Cárdenas, former director of the Citgo company accused of corruption, and Jorge Fernández, detained at the Colombian border for “spurious charges,” according to the White House.
“Tonight, two Americans who were unjustly detained in Venezuela will be able to hug their families once more,” Biden celebrated in a statement in which he lamented the time that both have lost from being with their families. The president has applauded the “tireless” efforts of US diplomacy.
WHERE IS GUAIDO?
Guaidó, the theoretical legitimate president of Venezuela in the eyes of the United States, has not commented on these latest rapprochements. On the other hand, Henrique Capriles, also an opponent, has done so, who trusts that the visit of the US delegation “will bring positive results in the future in the search for a democratic solution to the political, economic and social crisis” that Venezuela is suffering.
In the same appearance in which he confirmed the meeting with the US delegation, Maduro also announced his intention to resume dialogue with the political opposition, broken off in October following Cape Verde extradited Alex Saab, alleged figurehead of the Venezuelan president, to the United States. .
Opposition sources consulted by Europa Press have denied that the meeting was an affront to Guaidó and his team, who also had his own appointment with Biden’s envoys. In this sense, they have assured that they knew the contacts in advance and that these would even have been developed before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs of the United States, Victoria Nuland, has also defended before the Senate Foreign Commission that there is no change in the doctrine maintained during these years. Thus, the United States “recognizes the leadership” of Guaidó, according to Nuland, who recalled that there was not just one meeting with Chavista representatives.
“There is no change in our strategy,” he has used in response to questions from Senator Marco Rubio, one of the most belligerent voices once morest Maduro in the US Congress. Nuland has also left aside the energy issue to emphasize the need to work in favor of the release of imprisoned Americans and the resumption of talks between Chavismo and the opposition.
Maduro and his entourage have avoided taking political advantage of the latest rapprochement, although his allies have. The former president of Bolivia Evo Morales has assured that Biden is now “seeking” Maduro “to avoid the energy and economic catastrophe caused by his interventionism together with NATO in Europe.”
“Finally, the White House recognizes the democratic government elected by the Venezuelan people and discards its coup puppet,” Morales emphasized, alluding to Guaidó.