Chris Wright arrives in Caracas and meets with Delcy Rodriguez to 'transform Venezuela' with a bilateral energy agenda
The Secretary of Energy is the highest-ranking U.S. official to travel to Venezuela since the January 3rd military intervention.
Chris Wright and Delcy Rodríguez
This Wednesday, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, arrived in Venezuela to meet with Delcy Rodríguez at the Miraflores Palace, in Caracas, with the objective of establishing an energy agenda aimed at long-term cooperation between both countries.
After the meeting, Wright assured that President Donald Trump is "passionately committed" to completely transforming the relationship between the United States and Venezuela and to bringing "commerce, peace, prosperity, jobs, opportunity to the people of Venezuela"
The visit carries unusual political weight. Wright is the highest-ranking U.S. official to travel to Venezuela since the Jan. 3 military intervention, which ended with the capture of Nicolas Maduro. In addition, this is the second high-level envoy of the Trump Administration in less than a month, following the visit of CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
A turnaround after years of rupture
This rapprochement coincides with the beginning of the lifting of sanctions by the Trump administration, with the aim of allowing foreign companies to operate in Venezuela and contribute to therecovery of its main industry. The move follows the enactment last month of a Venezuelan law that opened the oil sectorto private investment, reversing one of the tenets of the socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than two decades.
Energy as a starting point
Rodriguez indicated that the dialogue was focused on the establishment of a long-term productive partnership, aimed at developing an energy agenda beneficial for both countries.
Wright, for his part, maintained that there is room to significantly increase the production of oil and natural gas in Venezuela to raise employment opportunities, salaries, and the quality of life of the population.
The state of the oil industry
Before traveling, Wright stated that PDVSA was a highly professional and technically competent company 30 years ago but has ceased to be so for quite some time, in reference to the deterioration of the Venezuelan energy industry.
Tour of key facilities
The secretary arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday morning from Washington, and according to his office, he plans to visit oil fields and facilities, among them the Petroindependencia Processing Plant, in Monagas, and the Petropiar upgrader, in Barcelona.
LATEST
