For crude oil, Washington-Caracas contacts advance

App and Sputnik

Newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, March 10, 2022, p. 4

Washington. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, communicated that “we have a worldwide interest in maintaining a (…) constant supply of energy, including through diplomatic efforts”, referring to recent contacts with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Mature.

We have a multiplicity of interests and we use diplomacy to try to promote themhe added.

Maduro confirmed on Monday that he received a high-level delegation from the Joe Biden government at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, with whom he agreed to establish an agenda of common interest.

Maduro did not offer details about what was discussed, but White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that US officials traveled to Caracas to discuss a variety of topics including energy security.

It transpired that the Washington delegation demanded the release of at least two imprisoned US citizens, who arrived in the United States yesterday.

Blinken confirmed that Gustavo Cárdenas and Jorge Alberto Fernández arrived in the country and described it as important positive step but insisted that release all US citizens unjustly detained in Venezuela and around the world.

Cárdenas, former Vice President of Strategic Relations of Citgo, a subsidiary of the state-owned PDVSA in the United States, was arrested in 2017 and the Cuban-American Fernández in early 2021, in the state of Táchira (border with Colombia), under the accusation of terrorism.

In Venezuelan prisons there are still four American employees of Citgo and another with permanent residence, as well as three former marines who participated in an operation whose mission was to assassinate Maduro.

The president reiterated yesterday that his government will recover crude oil production, and stressed that the goal for this year is to produce 2 million barrels of oil per day. rain, shine or shine.

US federal officials are seeking a deal with Iran over its nuclear program, which could see the sanctions the country faces lifted and Iranian oil quickly returned to the market legally, though in this case US diplomacy is not being publicly linked with oil, said the agency Ap.

He said that Saudi Arabia, one of the main oil producers, is also the object of a rapprochement by Washington, which, although it is not official, has already been rejected by Democratic representatives, including Ilhan Omar.

Biden took office vowing to isolate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the rest of the Saudi royal family, for various abuses, including the 2018 murder of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Biden and the young crown prince are not known to have ever spoken.