One of the unanticipated developments in Russia has been the emerging US rapprochement with Venezuela. US President Joe Biden announced the release of two Americans who are in custody in the Bolivarian Republic. This happened after a visit to Caracas. According to informed sources, the talks also discussed the possibility of limiting oil exports from Venezuela. In Caracas, they have collected that they are ready to increase its production by 50% in a short time.

“Today among Americans found detained in Venezuela sick again to hug their loved ones,” an event in presumed President Joe Biden circulated by the White House. In particular, Gustavo Cardenas was released. He is one of six former attack alerts by Citgo (an affiliate of state-run Venezuelan oil company Pdvsa) arrested in 2017 in a money laundering shooting. In 2020, the Venezuelan Supreme Court sentenced six Americans to university terms ranging from 8 to 13 years. The second person released – Jorge Alberto Fernandez (also a US citizen) – was detained last year on charges of terrorism.

According to the St Petersburg University professor, editor-in-chief of the Latin America magazine Victor Heifetz, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made a gesture “confirming his readiness to negotiate with the United States.” “Moreover, a non-binding gesture – Maduro has not yielded in anything yet, but is showing “humanism.” This is really to the fact that he came to preach, and he is not a public petitioner, he even has a good initial negotiating position, ”said the interlocutor of Kommersant, who was noticed that a diplomatic delegation visited Caracas last weekend.

“The first thing that happened was to check the condition of nearby (in Venezuela) foreigners.— “b”) in the contract. We also look forward to the return of the Venezuelan government to the negotiating table with the opposition,” US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland commented on the visit. “There were a number of other issues that we discussed,” she added, without going into the limitation of clarification.

According to the agency, citing its own sources Reuters, one of the topics has become a potential stop against Caracas, declining oil exports. Back in early 2019, the US refused to buy oil from Venezuela, and legal entities banned buying dollar payments for oil purchased by foreign clients. The blow to the country’s key income was exports to force President Maduro to step down.

Previously, Venezuela produced 3 million barrels of oil per day, now it is about 800 thousand. However, this week, the head of the Venezuelan Petroleum Chamber, Reinaldo Quintero, said BBC about readiness to increase the figure to 1.2 million barrels – in order to “satisfy some needs in the North American market.” He also predicted that the US authorities are not going to cancel all the powers that were appointed against Venezuela by President Donald Trump, but they can manage foreign companies in Venezuela, thereby pushing them out of restrictive measures. Meanwhile, according to Victor Kheyfets, the increase in Venezuelan oil production will be a technological development – “the industry needs multi-billion dollar investments to develop and develop new wells.”

The frequency of rapprochement between Caracas and Washington on oil issues has increased dramatically against the backdrop of an acute crisis in relations between the West and Russia.

We remind you that President Biden on Tuesday announced an embargo on the purchase of Russian oil and petroleum products, imposing a direct decree against the export of goods from Russia (see Kommersant on March 9). So far, the US has mainly imported Russian fuel oil, which served refineries as a replacement for free Venezuelan oil.

The cost of gasoline at a gas station in the United States for the second day in a row has updated an all-time high, exceeding $4.25 per gallon (3785 liters), according to the non-profit American Automobile Association. While commodity prices may be close to Venezuela, its prices in the US are far from everything. “Having Biden arrange meetings for him with the terrorist Maduro without informing the Venezuelans who are suffering in secret and taking risks in responding is a heinous betrayal,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio tweeted. His fellow Democrat Robert Mendez spoke out against “giving new life to the regime of Nicolás Maduro,” the “cancerous tumor of the Western Hemisphere.”

One way or another, Reuters, citing sources, said that no agreements had yet been reached on the topic of oil proposals. Meanwhile, President Maduro said: “Reuters writes as if they were in a meeting. The Associated Press – as if they were sleeping with me at my house … all the versions that appeared are pure deception, pure speculation. From the comment that he himself was satisfied with the negotiations:

“I can call the meeting respectful, sincere and very diplomatic. I received them (members of the delegation.— “b”) mainly in the presidential office, office number 1 – there were beautiful flags of the USA and Venezuela, two flags side by side, as they should be.

“This time is needed. Word time. Time for truth. Time for the president to restore peace,” Maduro added.

“I have no particular doubts that the Venezuelan government can negotiate with the US to limit participation in the oil industry. Maduro has no special special infectious measures (contrary to public statements). And if his defender Hugo Chavez could still think about “loyalty to an ally” (Russia.— “b”), then Maduro is not so resolved in the matter of protecting a weakened opponent,” Viktor Kheifets assured Kommersant. “But then it may be more difficult. So, Maduro needs guarantees that the matter is not limited to partial withdrawal from Venezuela. For if Russia squeezes out of Venezuela and Latin America as a whole, then no one will especially need Maduro. And repeat the failure (former Libyan leader.— “b”) Muammar Gaddafi is hardly eager, like all the top leadership of the country. However, the White House can give any guarantees only with the consent of both the Congress and the Venezuelan opposition.”

On Tuesday, Victoria Nuland unexpectedly answered a question clarifying whether the US administration still considers opposition leader Juan Guaido, and not Nicolas Maduro, to be the legitimate president of Venezuela (it is not clear what powers were assigned to Mr. Maduro, with the participation of representatives of international negotiators, she became). Confirmation that Washington’s position remains basically the same was the meeting of the representatives of the delegation with Juan Guaido, which also took place in Caracas. He himself did not comment on its results. However, the mood prevailing in the Venezuelan opposition can be understood from the declared closest associate of Mr. Guaidó, Carlos Vecchio, who was elected by him as a representative in the United States. “Buying oil from Maduro or Putin is one and the same. This oil is covered in blood,” Mr. Vecchio tweeted, thereby urging Washington to conduct a unified energy inspection regarding the detention of Russia and a visit to Venezuela.

We remind you that the Venezuelan authorities are alone because of obesity, who will take responsibility for the escalation of the severity of the situation in the Russian Federation, and in the NATO countries in the government with the United States. On March 1, following a telephone conversation between Nicolás Maduro and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin stated that the Venezuelan leader “expressed firm support for Russia’s decisive actions, condemned the destabilizing activities of the United States and NATO, and emphasized the strong opposition to Western countries of the campaign of lies and disinformation.”

Pavel Tarasenko