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The French and Venezuelan presidents greeted each other for a minute and a half during Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheil, Egypt. “The continent is putting itself back together, there is a path that we have to rebuild… I would love if we could talk a little more,” Macron told Maduro. France is among the more than 50 countries that ignored Maduro’s reelection in 2018, branded by the opposition as “fraudulent.”
A minute and a half of conversation and handshake, without letting go, in the corridors of the Convention Center. A minute and a half that can change the course of relations between the two countries, very affected since France ignored the re-election of Maduro in 2018 and supported the opposition Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela.
But for some time now, the tables have been turning and support for the Venezuelan opponent at the international level is declining. The Maduro government has even entered into direct talks with the US. with France,
In 2019, France, like some 50 countries, including the United States, recognized Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela, arguing that the 2018 electoral process in which Maduro was re-elected was “fraudulent.”
Guaidó’s leadership, which maintains control of some assets outside the country but has failed to wield power in Venezuela, has dwindled since 2019. The Maduro government has entered into direct talks with the US.
The global energy crisis unleashed by the war in Ukraine has caused many countries to seek to diversify their oil and gas supplies so as not to depend on Russia. And the eyes are focused on two countries, Iran and Venezuela. “Venezuelan oil must also be able to return to the market,” the Elysee said at the time.
This was evoked by the French presidency during the G7 summit in Germany last June. Already then, Nicolás Maduro said that Venezuela was “ready to receive all the French companies that want to come and produce oil and gas for the European market.”
Macron to Maduro: ‘President, I will call you’
“President, I will call you,” Macron told Maduro on Monday in Egypt. Perhaps a first contact can take place this week in Paris not directly with the Venezuelan president, but with the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly who is attending the Paris Forum for Peace this Friday.
Excellent handshake with the President of France Emmanuel Macron, within the framework of the #COP27, which is undoubtedly a meeting point between the governments and countries of the world. The doors of Venezuela are open for the French people. pic.twitter.com/iOQJtvidqC
– Nicolas Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) November 7, 2022
Jorge Rodríguez is the head of the official delegation in the talks with the opposition in Mexico and is scheduled to meet in Paris with Juan Guaidó’s negotiator, Gerardo Blyde, head of the Unitarian Platform delegation.
“To the order. An envoy goes there for the conference, Jorge Rodríguez. With him you can speak in confidence, with him you can speak in absolute confidence. He is the president of the National Assembly,” Maduro replied to Macron.
