Venezuela: Vice President Rodríguez, Foreign Minister Gil Promote Cooperation in Diplomatic Trips

Caracas, October 31, 2024 (venezuelanalysis.com) ‒ Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez concluded a visit to Vietnam that included meetings with several high-ranking officials.

In her three-day stay in the Southeast Asian country, Rodríguez held talks with Vietnamese President Luong Cuong and Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan focused on deepening cooperation in fields such as agriculture, energy, telecoms and tourism.

“We have drawn a cooperation map that complements the characteristics of this important Asian country with several areas of Venezuelan potential,” the Venezuelan vice president said in a closing press conference on Thursday. She likewise thanked the Vietnamese government for its support for Venezuela against US economic sanctions.

For his part, Cuong praised the bilateral ties and friendship with Venezuela and expressed hope that relations would deepen in the future.

The Venezuelan vice president, who also serves as oil minister, had previously been in India. She held meetings with her Indian counterpart Jagdeep Dhankhar and Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to discuss the two countries’ “energy relations.”

Rodríguez likewise met with executives from Reliance Industries. The refining giant secured a green light from the US Treasury Department to import Venezuelan crude. Several Indian corporations, both state- and private-owned, have expressed interest in dealing with Venezuela’s oil industry but have been stopped by the threat of US secondary sanctions.

Venezuela’s recent diplomatic efforts also included participation in the COP16 summit on biodiversity held in Cali, Colombia. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil reiterated the Caribbean nation’s commitment to preserving the environment and called for “concrete action” to protect biodiversity.

Gil took aim at corporations “aiming to privatize forests, water sources, and displace communities” and urged responses from governments that go beyond “speeches and rhetoric.” He highlighted strong cooperation between Caracas and Bogotá in environmental affairs.

Venezuela’s foreign policy agenda additionally included a condemnation of the US blockade against Cuba at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. On Tuesday, the country’s Ambassador to the UN Samuel Moncada referred to the six-decade-plus embargo as a “historical injustice and imperial delusion.”

On Wednesday, 187 countries voted at the UN in favor of ending the blockade against Cuba. The United States and Israel provided the only votes against the resolution, while Moldova abstained.