By David Alire Garcia
Venezuela’s new leader isn’t backing down from her assertion that the US orchestrated an illegal kidnapping with its seizure of President Nicolás Maduro, but she’s also seeking more diplomatic engagement with Donald Trump.
In a statement issued Friday, the government now led by acting President Delcy Rodríguez argued that Venezuela is a victim of an “illegitimate and illegal criminal aggression” that murdered more than 100 civilians and soldiers. A paragraph later, the government pivots to say it’s looking into diplomacy to address the consequences of Maduro’s capture and an agenda of “mutual interest.”
It’s all part of a delicate balance pursued by Rodríguez, Maduro’s newly sworn-in replacement as president and veteran operative of Venezuela’s ruling socialists: one part defiance, one part appeasement.
“The Bolivarian Government of Venezuela has decided to begin an exploratory diplomatic process with the government of the United States of America aimed at the reestablishment of diplomatic missions in both countries,” according to the statement.
Rodríguez, a former top diplomat who most recently took on the OPEC nation’s key oil portfolio, must carefully manage the seething anger over Maduro’s capture from hard-liners inside the ruling coalition while simultaneously working with Trump.
In one of the clearest signs yet she’s striving to meet US demands, the head of Venezuela’s Congress Jorge Rodríguez — Delcy’s older brother — announced on Thursday that some local and foreign prisoners would be freed as a peace offering.
The elder Rodríguez thanked former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the government of Qatar for supporting the prisoner release.
While it’s not clear how many or which specific prisoners will be freed, Spanish officials said five of its citizens, including one dual national, were among those being released. Two other important figures from Venezuela’s political opposition have also been let go.
One of the first major tests of the Trump-Rodríguez alliance will focus on the oil riches of Venezuela, home to the one of the world’s largest proven reserves of the key global commodity.
The future of Venezuela’s battered industry, which has seen crude output slide sharply this century, was front and center at a White House event on Friday presided over by Trump, where he predicted that oil companies will invest $100 billion to reverse the slump.
For Trump, the push aims to use Venezuela to achieve hegemonic power over energy, at least in the Americas, while also sidelining geopolitical rivals China and Russia. But the push threatens to rally nationalist sentiment behind Rodríguez, in addition to already facing skepticism from oil titans like Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods.
Among some 20 oil chiefs in attendance, Woods described Venezuela as currently “uninvestable” until major changes are made, including ironclad investment protections.
Over the past few days, Trump has been making a show of rewarding Venezuela’s new leadership for gestures of alignment with Washington. The US leader announced earlier on Friday that he had called off new military strikes on Venezuela, pointing to improving relations.
In a social media post, Trump referred to what he already described as progress toward the US rebuilding of Venezuela’s oil industry, in addition to the prisoner releases.
In its statement, the Venezuelan government emphasized that it would meet US aggression “with diplomatic means” and would welcome a US diplomatic delegation while sending its own envoys to Washington.
Some movement on that front is already underway. John McNamara, the US Chargé d’Affaires in Colombia, has traveled to Venezuela to assess a possible resumption of operations at the American embassy in Caracas, according to a US official.
At the White House, Trump also announced he’ll meet with Venezuelan officials soon, though he didn’t specify which ones. An impromptu summit with Rodríguez would seem unlikely, since her Information Ministry batted down any plans to travel for now in a statement sent via text message.
After initially downplaying a role for opposition leader María Corina Machado in post-Maduro Venezuela, Trump added that he’ll likely meet with her next week and even suggested she could be involved in leading Venezuela at some point.
But the US leader, known for keeping his options open, didn’t go into detail.
 "Venezuela seeks closer ties with US while condemning Maduro's fall")
