The U.S. representative to the Climate Summit in Egypt, John Kerry, has taken advantage of the event to reach out to Nicolás Maduro and the People's Republic of China. The presidential delegate greeted and chatted on camera with the Bolivarian dictator and held three meetings with the Chinese representatives.
In front of the cameras, Kerry was seen greeting and chatting amicably with the Venezuelan president, the images of which, have quickly gone viral on social networks. Although the State Department wanted to play down the importance of the meeting, indicating that the U.S. representative was surprised by Maduro, the images show a good understanding and there are no signs of discomfort.
Wink to the Bolivarian regime
This meeting adds to the winks that have been coming from the Biden Administration to the Bolivarian regime, especially since the energy price crisis worsened. It is one of the explanations for the handshake of an official representative of the US government with a person who just two years ago was on the list of most wanted criminals and whose capture was valued at 15 million dollars.
Venezuela’s Maduro goes from being on US wanted list in 2020 ( $15 million reward for his capture), to shaking hands with John Kerry in 2022. Video from Egypt today at #COP27 : pic.twitter.com/e3wUNlgCOt
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) November 8, 2022
"Informal talks" with China
Kerry himself acknowledged that he met during the Summit with his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua. These are the first talks the two superpowers have held since the Chinese Communist government suspended climate talks in August in retaliation for Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. However, the special climate delegate downplayed the importance of these meetings.
"We've had some informal talks, but we're not in any formal negotiations," said Kerry, who stressed that, for his part and that of the Administration, "I'm willing to negotiate." According to The New York Times the two representatives have met on at least three occasions, and further meetings are not ruled out.
