Maduro acknowledges rapprochement with Biden, but deal uncertain

In a speech broadcast on TV, Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro said this Monday (7) he was interested in getting closer to the United States. The declaration came shortly after the resumption of high-level talks in Caracas, on the initiative of President Joe Biden.

“We had a meeting, I can call it respectful, cordial, very diplomatic,” Maduro said during a cabinet meeting. “There were the flags of the United States and Venezuela and they looked very beautiful. The two flags, united, as they should be”.

The US initiative is set against the backdrop of the escalation of the war in Ukraine and the soaring price of oil. This Tuesday (8), the US banned the import of oil, gas and coal from Russia.

The impact of the global crisis has already reached US gas stations. States like California are already recording record gas prices. Geographically close, but in a diplomatic break for three years, Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world.

Bilateral relations have been strained since the rise of President Hugo Chávez to power in 1999, and reached its lowest level under the Donald Trump administration (2017-2021). The republican tried to overthrow the Chavista dictatorship by recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate president.

Last week, the White House renewed for one year a “national emergency” Executive Order regarding Venezuela, on the grounds that political persecution, press freedom and the deterioration of human rights continue at critical levels, representing a “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States”.

This Monday, Maduro also announced the resumption of negotiations with the opposition, in Mexico, with the mediation of Norway.

The dialogue had been suspended since the capture in Cape Verde and extradition to the US of businessman Alex Saab, operator of the Venezuelan regime, in November. In the second, the dictator called the process a “hard blow”.

On the other hand, Venezuela and Russia have maintained close relations for decades. In the military area, for example, Moscow sold Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets and sent a navy fleet to carry out military exercises in the Caribbean. At the UN, the Maduro government did not vote in the session that condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.