An advisor to President Donald Trump met with President Nicolás Maduro In an attempt to make Venezuela accept deportation flights that transport gang members and ensure the release of US prisoners.
Richard Grenelll, Trump’s sent For special missions, will press for the rapid release of American prisoners during your visitbut its main objective is to ensure that Repatriation flights transporting to members of the Tren de Aragua gang “That they have violated the laws of our nation terrify in Venezuela,” said White House spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt.
The trip raises a possible confrontation with Maduro, whose government has refused to accept deportation flights from the United States for about a year. But I could also take advantage of the visit to press in favor of the American sanctions that have paralyzed their economy, including the oil sector.
Both gathered in the presidential palace in Caracas on Friday afternoon, according to Venezuelan state media, which added that Maduro sought to review the proposals for the relationship between the two countries “in a consensual way, not imposed.”
Maduro will seek to use his encounter with Grenelll to restart conversations with the United States “from scratch,” state media said. The most recent attempt of Reaching a commitment between the United States and Venezuela failed after the Biden Administration refused to raise all sanctions according to what was agreedsaid Maduro. Biden officials have said that Maduro stole the most recent elections in the country.
An incentive that Grenelll I could offer Maduro is the extension of an American license that allows to operate Chevron Corp., The only American oil producer that remains in Venezuela, said a person with knowledge of the meeting. Now that Maduro begins his third term, the oil industry is the main engine that keeps Venezuela’s economy afloat.
But that could face the resistance of the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who said earlier this month that The United States should reconsider the exemption of sanctions to Chevron, saying that it provides “billions of dollars of money to the regime’s coffers.”
Venezuelan bonds rose all over the curve, And the sovereign bonds won more than half a penny on Friday. Expiration bonds in 2027 advanced US $ 0.9 cents to quote above US $ 19 cents per dollar, the highest levels since the end of July, according to data indicative of prices compiled by Bloomberg.
Sanctions, rewards
Meetings occur at a tense moment in relations between Washington and Caracas. Maduro, who governs Venezuela since 2013, He recently swore his new mandate in the midst of generalized evidence of electoral fraud. In addition to sanctioning him and several senior officials, the former president Joe Biden also offered a reward of US $ 25 million for information that leads to Maduro’s arrest for drug trafficking charges.
Maduro survived the maximum pressure strategy of the first Trump administration, even when he stopped the country’s oil exports, and also survived an effort from Biden officials to facilitate free and fair elections. Some Trump’s key advisors have advocated a return to the most aggressive position.
Mauricio Claver-Carone, special sent to Latin America, told reporters that Grenelll’s visit is not a quid pro quo, it is not a negotiation in exchange for anything, ”and that Trump has said that the United States does not need Buy the oil of Venezuela.
“The meeting represents a victory for Maduro and a Desaise to the leaders of the Venezuelan opposition, who have urged the United States to avoid any measure that legitimizes Maduro,” Eurasia’s analyst Group wrote in a note, Gris-Targow laughs. However“There are clear divisions within the Trump administration in regard to Venezuelaand Grenelll and specific oil interests are more interested in participating. ”
At least seven Americans have been arrested in Venezuela since the electionJuly presidentials, accused of being involved in conspiracies against the Maduro government, including an attempt to kill him and other authorities.
The last visit of an American delegation to Caracas took place in 2023, headed by the special envoy of Biden for hostage affairs, Roger Carstens, who got an exchange of prisoners in which Venezuela released 10 Americans and delivered a defense contractor, while the US released a Maduro ally.
During Trump’s first mandate, Grenell also played a role after racks in delicate conversations with Maduro allies in an attempt to negotiate the peaceful departure of the power leader.
