On a lightning trip, a emissary of President Donald Trump broke years of Biden Administration diplomacy in Venezuela and began a new dialogue with President Nicolás Maduro, a change that may have repercussions from migration to the oil market.
Richard Grenell, Trump’s emissary for special situations, flew to Caracas on Friday (31), squeezed Maduro’s hand and returned with six American prisoners and the promise that Venezuela would accept its migrants deported for the first time in almost a year including members of the dreaded gang gang Tren de Aragua.
“Relationships between US and Venezuela went from zero to one hundred kilometers over the hour on the day,” said Geoff Ramsey, senior researcher at the Atlantic Council in Washington.
Maduro, whose international legitimacy was deeply shaken after the US, the European Union and most countries in the region refused to recognize their reelection, made a point of broadly publicizing the meeting with Trump’s emissary. The state media published photos and videos of the meeting at Miraflores Palace, where a smiling mature showed Grenell the sword of Venezuelan liberator Simón Bolivar, placed between the flags of Venezuela and the United States.
The contrast with a high level meeting in 2022 in Caracas, with Juan González, senior director for the Western Hemisphere of the Biden National Security Council, was evident. At that time, the Venezuelan government did not disclose photos. This time, Maduro’s administration even redistributed an image originally published by a local opposition vehicle, showing the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, and Chancellor Yván Gil receiving Grenell and the US delegation when they landed in the capital.
Grenell’s visit represented a clear victory for Trump, who said Maduro even agreed to provide transportation back to the deported. “It’s great to have Venezuela’s hostages back home,” Trump said in a socially publication on Saturday morning. “We are in the process of removing a record number of illegal immigrants from all countries.”
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It is still left to see if Maduro will fulfill the promise of accepting the deported, which would give Trump a victory in his campaign to return indocmented migrants to their home countries. An agreement with Venezuela would pave the way for its administration to deport hundreds of thousands of people back to a country that has become one of the largest sources of migration to the US in recent years due to the authoritarian regime of Maduro and the severe economic crisis.
The meeting also seemed to represent a victory for Maduro. Although he did not get a public promise in return, the visit of a tall Trump employee was a visible sign that the US is willing to negotiate with him again, despite evidence that he fraudumed last July’s presidential election. President Joe Biden had applied sanctions to members of the regime and recognized opponent Edmundo González as the true president -elect.
The license that allows Chevron Corp. Operating in Venezuela was automatically renewed on Saturday for another six months. The document has been renewed on the first day of each month since it was issued in November 2022. Friday’s meeting and license renewal suggest that the US will probably continue to allow the oil company to produce in the country, both a lucrative permission for Maduro as for the American company.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who begins a trip to Latin America this weekend, questioned whether Chevron’s license in Venezuela should continue to be renewed, signaling possible disagreements within the Trump administration on the subject.
The meeting was a blow to the Venezuelan opposition led by María Corina Machado, who is hidden and had Trump’s support, while Maduro prepares to further consolidate his power. During his first term, Trump led the region’s failed efforts to overthrow Maduro, recognizing the then president of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, as the country’s legitimate leader. Venezuela will hold early regional and legislative elections this year, allowing Maduro to strengthen its control.
The meeting seems to have put aside ax, and now the Venezuelan opposition faces the challenge of deepening its ties with the Trump administration, Ramsey said.
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“Communication channels with Maduro are not inherently bad from the point of view of advancing to a democratic transition, but it still has to be seen exactly how this channel will be used,” said Ramsey.
A new beginning
After Friday’s meeting, Venezuelan state television released about seven minutes of images of the meeting in Miraflores, showing Maduro and Grenell smiling and squeezing his hands. A radiant Jorge Rodríguez, Maduro’s main negotiator, watched the scene, which the station reporter called a “historical moment.” A translator was seen walking alongside Maduro and Grenell during the meeting.
In a statement on Friday night, the Venezuelan government said the meeting had been requested by the US on Thursday and that Maduro accepted.
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Prior to the meeting with Maduro, Grenell met with Jorge Rodríguez and his sister, Venezuela vice president Delcy Rodríguez.
“We have taken the first step, I hope we can support him, we want to support him,” Maduro said after the meeting with Grenell. “Let’s start a new agenda, let’s go to a new beginning.”
