A diplomatic thaw with the flavor of a low-budget spy movie
It seems that the recipe to reestablish dialogue between Venezuela and the United States was quite simple, although a bit extreme: a bold military intervention, the capture of the president and the first lady, and voila! Suddenly everyone remembers how helpful embassies were for arranging visas and hosting cocktail parties. The governments of Caracas and Washington announced with a solemnity worthy of a better cause that, now that the “Maduro problem” is… let’s say, “relocated”, they will evaluate the possibility of reopening their diplomatic headquarters. A gesture of bilateral rapprochement that arrives, with the perfect synchronicity of a poorly told joke, just six days after the marines did their thing. Coincidence? Of course not. It’s high-precision diplomacy, or so they want us to believe.
The “technical evaluation” committee: or how to get your foot in the door without committing to anything
As the first step in this exploratory process (bureaucratic term for “let’s see if we don’t throw the furniture at each other’s heads”), a delegation from the Trump administration landed in Venezuela. Its mission, according to the State Department, is to carry out technical and logistical evaluations. That is, check if the plants at the embassy in Caracas are still alive, if the portraits of the former ambassadors are upright and, crucially, if the coffee maker still works. At the same time, the government of interim president Delcy Rodríguez – sworn in in record time after the abrupt change of scenario – announced that it will send its own diplomats to Washington. The agenda? Address the “consequences derived from aggression and kidnapping.” Because nothing says “Bolivarian diplomacy of peace” like starting conversations by accusing the other of being a kidnapper. A promising framework for dialogue, without a doubt.
Meanwhile, in Washington, they are quick to clarify that sending a team does not mean that they will reopen the embassy. It is only a “preliminary evaluation“. It’s the diplomatic equivalent of “it’s not a date, we’re just two friends having coffee.” The team, led by the interim ambassador, belongs to the Venezuelan Affairs Unit, which has been operating from afar like an institutional ghost since 2019. Their return to Caracas must feel like the first day of school, but with more security protocol and less hope.
And in the midst of this delicate dance, the Venezuelan authorities released another gem: they announced the release of a “significant number” of political prisoners (sorry, people detained for “political reasons“, because the government strictly denies the existence of the former). A magnanimous measure to “consolidate peace.” Of course, because nothing consolidates peace more than having hundreds of relatives standing vigil in front of the prisons, not knowing if their loved one is one of the lucky ones. The Foro Penal, a local NGO, counted 863 detainees for these reasons as of December. So far, confirmed releases can be counted on the fingers of one hand, including five Spanish citizens. A gesture of national reconciliation in miniature, we could say.
To give a touch of heavenly legitimacy to the matter, even Pope Leo XIV (a pontiff as unexpected as the news itself) asked for peace and for the will of the Venezuelan people to be respected. Meanwhile, President Rodríguez, from her Telegram channel, boasted of her calls with Lula da Silva, Gustavo Petro and Pedro Sánchez, building her own bloc of international support. He especially thanked Lula for his support in the “most critical moments after the aggression suffered.” Because in modern geopolitics, the important thing is to have someone to call to complain after you’re invaded.
And the absent protagonist of this comedy, Nicolás Maduro, appeared in court in New York, pleading not guilty to charges of narcoterrorism. One can almost imagine the historical irony: His capture could be the catalyst that finally allows the American flag to fly again in Caracas. Life, and foreign policy, take turns more twisted than a soap opera script.
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