French President Emmanuel Macron had a brief meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, whom he did not officially recognize as head of state, and invited him to “carry out useful bilateral work” for Latin America.
The minute-and-a-half conversation filled with smiles took place in the corridors of the climate change conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, COP27.
According to footage provided by the Venezuelan presidency to AFP, Macron told Maduro, “If we can talk more, I will be happy that we can do bilateral work that is beneficial for the region.” “President (…), I’ll call you.”
France is among more than 50 countries that do not recognize Maduro’s re-election in 2018, which the opposition describes as “dishonest” and supports opposition Juan Guaidó as the country’s head of government.
Support for Guaidó has since weakened, particularly in Europe. Channels of dialogue between France and Maduro’s Venezuela remained open amid the “balancing power” policy Macron sought to promote.
The French president will receive in Paris his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, the country’s first left-wing president, re-establishing relations between Bogota and Caracas after a three-year hiatus.
“France needs to play a positive role in the region,” Maduro said in a meeting with Macron.
Amid the Washington-led policy of isolation, the Venezuelan president has strengthened ties with countries like Russia to continue exporting oil and avoid the financial sanctions imposed.
Concerned about the energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the French presidency called for “diversification of oil supply sources” targeting production from Iran and Venezuela at the G7 summit held in Germany on June 27.
“Venezuelan oil should also be able to get back on the market,” he said.
Maduro said the next day that Venezuela was ready to welcome French oil companies “who want to produce oil and gas for the world market, for the European market”.
source: Noticias
