Governing and Opposition Parties Make Progress Toward Establishing Humanitarian Fund
National Assembly President and Maduro negotiator Jorge Rodriguez said Venezuela’s governing and opposition parties are close to creating a $3.2 billion UN-administrated fund; the creation of the fund would support healthcare, food, and education efforts (Reuters)
UN Rights Chief Concludes Venezuela Visit, Talks With Government
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said he heard accounts of people being detained and tortured by Venezuela’s security forces; he also held talks with President Nicolás Maduro and the opposition (UN News)
UN Human Rights Chief Visits Venezuela
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk arrives in Caracas today for talks with the government, opposition, and civil society groups about Venezuela’s human rights situation (MercoPress)
Trinidad Proposes Humanitarian Supplies as Payment for Venezuelan Gas
Prime Minister Keith Rowley said Trinidad offered Venezuela payment in humanitarian supplies like food and medicine; this payment method complies with a U.S. license, which prohibits cash payments (Reuters)
U.S. Grants Trinidad License to Develop Gas Field in Venezuelan Waters
The license comes during an easing of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and is designed to help natural gas from a Venezuelan field reach the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, U.S. officials told Reuters (Reuters)
Argentina Hosts Latin American Summit Without Venezuela’s Leader
A meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) kicks off in Buenos Aires today (MercoPress)
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro withdrew from the conference, citing alleged plans for “aggression” against his delegation (MercoPress)
Venezuelans March for Higher Salaries
Workers across the country held at least fifty demonstrations yesterday to call for raises amid rising inflation, the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict said (Bloomberg)
Opposition National Assembly Appoints New Leadership
After removing Juan Guaido as its interim president last week, the opposition national assembly appointed new leadership and announced the appointment of a commission to manage foreign assets (Reuters)
Spain Appoints Ambassador to Venezuela After Two-Year Vacancy
Madrid had cited a lack of free elections in Venezuela when it vacated the position. Spain is now supporting talks between President Nicolás Maduro’s government and the Venezuelan opposition (Reuters)
Venezuelan Opposition Parties Plan to Unseat Leader Guaidó
Opposition parties said they have enough votes to create a commission to take over the powers held by Juan Guaidó, who led an unsuccessful attempt to oust President Nicolás Maduro by creating a parallel government in 2019; international support for Guaidó has declined since then (Bloomberg)
Russia, Venezuela Talk Debt, Energy Stability
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak met with Venezuela’s oil minister Tareck El Aissami in Caracas to solidify their cooperation on stabilizing the international energy market and to discuss Russia’s proposal for a debt restructuring deal (Reuters)
TASS news agency also reported that Russia was interested in increasing Venezuela’s oil output and Venezuela’s possible adoption of Russia’s Mir card payment system (Reuters; Reuters)
In addition, an Iranian oil tanker was seen arriving in Venezuela last week indicating the country’s growing ties with Iran (Reuters)
Brazil, Venezuela to Restore Relations
Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula D Silva seeks to re-establish relations with Venezuela upon his inauguration in January, said future Brazilian foreign relations minister Mauro Vieira (Reuters)
This came one week after Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro announced the full reopening of border crossings with Colombia after the two countries resumed relations in September (NBC News)
International Agencies Launch Two-Year Support Plan for Venezuelan Migrants
Groups including the UN refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration appealed to donors to help fund the $1.72 billion plan (IOM)
Venezuela to Boost Oil Output with Joint Ventures
Venezuela’s oil minister Tareck El Aissami said he expected the country to sign new contracts to boost oil joint ventures between state-owned PDVSA and private energy companies to expand oil production and exports following the easing of U.S. sanctions (Reuters)
Meanwhile, investigations into Venezuela’s export of oil under U.S. sanctions revealed the practice of using false documentation to conceal cargo originating in sanctioned countries (Reuters)
Venezuelan Negotiations Restart as U.S. Lifts Some Oil Sanctions
The United States announced it will allow Chevron to resume pumping some oil from Venezuela after the Venezuelan government and opposition resumed negotiations; the two sides agreed that billions of dollars in frozen government funds should be moved to a UN-administered humanitarian fund (NYT)
U.S. in Talks with Mexico, Other Countries Concerning Venezuelan Migrants
Blas Nunez-Neto, acting assistant secretary for U.S. border and immigration policy, said the United States, Mexico, and other affected countries are discussing plans to facilitate the return of Venezuelan migrants to their country (Reuters)
Study Indicates Significant Drop in Poverty in Venezuela
A study conducted by the National Poll of Living Conditions found that poverty fell to 50.5 percent this year after being at 65.2 percent in 2021 (Reuters)
Venezuelan Government Faces Set Back in Extrication Process with U.S.
U.S. prosecutors introduced new evidence in the money laundering case against special government envoy to Venezuela, Alex Saab Moran, calling into question his and the Venezuelan government’s claim for diplomatic immunity from prosecution (AP)
Italian Company to Resume Transporting Venezuelan Oil
Italian oil firm Eni will resume shipping Venezuelan oil exports after a four-month pause; in June, the United States modified sanctions on Venezuela to allow it to resume exports with Eni (Reuters)
Additionally, commercial flights resumed between Venezuela and Colombia for the first time since they were paused in March 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns (MercoPress)
Colombian and Venezuelan Presidents Meet For First Time in Six Years
Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will meet face to face today; it is the first such meeting in six years, as Colombia’s previous president had severed diplomatic ties with Venezuela (AP)
Venezuelan Opposition Members To Rescind Support For Interim Government
Opposition representatives visiting Washington told U.S. officials that they will not continue to support their long-time leader Juan Guaido’s interim government in 2023, instead focusing on selecting a candidate to compete against current President Nicola Maduro in the upcoming election (Reuters)
Venezuelan Opposition Weighs Dropping Its Claim to Be Interim Government
Opposition parties claimed to be the rightful government of Venezuela in a failed plan to oust President Nicolás Maduro in 2019; while the United States and more than fifty other countries supported their claim, abandoning it could pave the way for Washington to reduce sanctions on Venezuela (FT)
Venezuelan Exodus Tops Seven Million People
New UN data showed that 7.1 million people have fled Venezuela since 2015 amid a political and economic crisis in the country; more than half of the emigrants are struggling to find adequate food, housing, and employment, the United Nations said (BBC)
U.S. Accepting 24,000 Venezuelan Migrants
The United States will allow twenty-four thousand Venezuelan migrants who have U.S. sponsors to enter the United States by plane; Venezuelan migrants, including asylum seekers, who cross the southern U.S. border illegally will be expelled to Mexico, which previously refused to accept them (CBS)
Venezuela Voted Out of UN Human Rights Council
Last month, an independent UN mission on Venezuela accused military and civilian intelligence officials of crimes against humanity (MercoPress)