In the meeting, “we discussed the response to the double earthquake, bilateral energy cooperation, investments, and security,” she wrote on her Telegram account.

Rodriguez reaffirmed the importance of “continuing to advance a common agenda for the benefit of our people.” The meeting was attended by, on the Venezuelan side, the president of the National Assembly (parliament), Jorge Rodriguez, among other officials, while the US delegation included the chargé d’affaires in Caracas, John Barrett, according to the video accompanying the message.

Both governments reestablished diplomatic relations on March 5, after they had been severed since February 2019, as part of the diplomatic dialogue initiated between authorities of the two countries following the events of January 3, 2016.

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry reaffirmed in a statement the national government’s willingness to “move forward into a new stage of constructive dialogue, based on mutual respect, the sovereign equality of states, and cooperation between our peoples.”

The government expressed its confidence that this “process will contribute to strengthening understanding and opening opportunities for positive and mutually beneficial cooperation.”

“These relations,” the official statement emphasized, “must result in the social and economic well-being of the Venezuelan people.”

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