Caracas (AFP) – The presidents of Russia and Venezuela announced plans to increase energy cooperation on Friday after Washington ordered US oil giant Chevron to pull out of the Caribbean country. In a video call with his Venezuelan counterpart that was broadcast by Venezuelan state TV, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said the two countries were “strategic partners” and plan to expand ties.
Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, whose claim to have won a third term in July 2024 elections has been rejected by much of the international community, said the two countries had taken their ties “to the highest level in several domains,” including energy cooperation. Last month, US President Donald Trump revoked a sanctions waiver permitting Chevron to operate in Venezuela, removing a crucial source of revenue for the country’s sanctions-hit economy.
Trump accused Maduro of failing to live up to his promise to a US envoy, who visited Caracas in January, to take back deported Venezuelans. The envoy’s visit had been welcomed by Maduro’s authoritarian leftist administration as a sign of a possible reset of relations with Washington under Trump’s second presidency after years of tensions. Trump poured cold water on those hopes by tightening sanctions he had imposed on Venezuela during his first term that had been partially softened by his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.
Putin is one of the few world leaders to have recognized Maduro’s re-election. The United States and several other world powers have said they believe the opposition’s candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia was the rightful winner of the vote, which triggered riots that were harshly suppressed by Venezuelan security forces. Venezuela’s late leftist anti-US firebrand Hugo Chavez cultivated close ties with Moscow during his 1999-2013 presidency, which Maduro has expanded. He has notably refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Putin on Friday invited Maduro to visit Moscow on May 9, when Russia celebrates victory over Nazi Germany in World War II with a huge military parade.
© 2024 AFP
