The US delegation visited Venezuela for the 2nd time this year.

A delegation of members of the US government visited Venezuela for the second time this year and met with the President of the Venezuelan Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, this Monday (27/06).

This information, presented by international agencies, was confirmed by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Monday night.

“At this moment, Jorge Rodríguez receives an important delegation from the US government that arrived in Venezuela two hours ago, and he is working to continue the communication that began on March 5 and continue the bilateral agenda between the government. The United States and the Venezuelan government,” Maduro said.

The Biden administration’s first trip to the Latin American country took place on March 5. During the event, former US Army Special Forces Lt. Roger Cortez, National Security Council Director for the Western Hemisphere Juan Gonzalez, and US Ambassador to Venezuela James Story met Maduro and Rodriguez at the palace. Caracas.

After the meeting, the government and the opposition announced the resumption of the suspended roundtable talks. In addition, Washington suspended some oil embargoes against Venezuela, allowing North American Chevron to begin negotiations with state-owned PDVSA to resume operations in the country. In addition, Spain’s Repsol and Italy’s Eni were allowed to send oil back to Europe.

Gardens and Storey joined the U.S. delegation’s visit, which began this Monday.

The meetings between Joe Biden and representatives of the Maduro government signaled a new US approach to Venezuela. In 2019, then-President Donald Trump recognized former Vice President Juan Guaidó as the country’s “interim president” and began dialogue only with factions of the opposition associated with the self-proclaimed Guaidó. Although this official position has not been revised by the Biden administration, Washington has returned to negotiating directly with the Venezuelan government.

The White House’s interest in dialogue with Caracas is linked to the West’s search for solutions to an energy crisis caused by disruptions to Russian oil and gas supplies caused by the war in Ukraine.

Venezuela currently produces about 717,000 barrels of oil per day, according to OPEC data. If Chevron is given the green light to resume production on Venezuelan soil, the country could reach 1 million barrels per day.

Open the doors to France

This Monday, President Nicolás Maduro addressed his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, saying that the country’s doors are open to French companies to produce oil and gas in Venezuela.

Comments on the comments made by representatives of the French government during the G7 meeting, which has been taking place since Sunday in Germany, on the need for an increase in world oil production and the reintegration of Venezuelan and Iranian production into the market. Both countries are sanctioned by the US.

“If Iran can bring oil to the market, a knot must be removed. There is Venezuelan oil, which must also be returned to the market,” the French official said, according to the agency. Reuters.

According to the president of Venezuela, “the country is ready to receive all the French companies that want to produce oil and gas for the world market.”

“Did they persecute us? Did they harm us? Let them stay there with their persecution, we will stay here with our work, our production and our results,” Maduro said.

Editing: Arturo Hartmann