The president in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, who is celebrating one hundred days in office after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, assured this Wednesday that she is committed to a “long-term” relationship with the United States and the consolidation of a “joint agenda for shared development.”
In a video he shared on Telegram, Rodríguez expressed his team’s “full willingness” to “consolidate and build solid foundations for a long-term energy agenda” with the US, a country with which Venezuela resumed diplomatic relations last March after seven years broken.
«We are working very hard on changes that allow us to attract investment, which also allow us to build an energy cooperation agenda with the United States. Returning to that path is important for both countries,” said the Chavista leader, who insists on the cessation of sanctions to, she added, allow “all investments to be fully developed.”
Rodríguez held on Tuesday what he described as a productive working meeting with a delegation from the US Department of Energy led by the undersecretary of the Office of Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy, Kyle Haustveit.
He also confirmed that his Government has held meetings with representatives of companies such as ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil, among other “groups”, more than two months after the reform of the Hydrocarbons Law that opened the sector to private and foreign investment.
The president did not mention the measure taken on Tuesday by the US Government to lift the sanctions imposed on the public banking system, including the Central Bank of Venezuela.
The measure, announced by the Treasury Department, also includes the Bank of Venezuela, the Banco Digital de los Trabajadores, the Banco de Tesoro and any entity in which any of these institutions has a direct or indirect participation of 50% or more.
The Treasury Office of Asset Control (OFAC) in turn issued a license that allows “commercial transactions” with the Government of Venezuela, with prior authorization from Washington.
Also with the EU
– Representatives of the Government of Venezuela and the European Union (EU) discussed strategies in Caracas to strengthen their cooperation as part of a “new stage of cordiality,” the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) reported this Wednesday.
The acting president Delcy Rodríguez met with the deputy director general for the Americas at the European External Action Service, Pelayo Castro Zuzuárregui; with the EU charge d’affaires in Venezuela, María Antonia Calvo Puerta, and other authorities, according to VTV images.
The state channel indicated that at the meeting a joint work agenda was discussed to advance in “strategic areas towards a new stage of cordiality and productive relations”, without specifying more details in this regard.
Among the Venezuelan authorities who attended the meeting was the Venezuelan vice minister for North America and Europe, Oliver Blanco.
Previously, the Foreign Minister of Venezuela, Yván Gil, reported that he met with Castro Zuzuárregui, as well as with Calvo Puerta, and said he had discussed with them strategies to strengthen cooperation between Europe and the South American country, although he did not give more details.
