Venezuela's interim president will soon visit the United States, a senior US official said Wednesday, further signalling PresidentDonald Trumps willingness to embrace the oil-rich countrys new leader.
Delcy Rodriguezwould be the first sitting Venezuelan president to visit theUnited Statesin more than a quarter century aside from presidents attendingUnited Nationsmeetings in New York.
She said Wednesday that she approached any dialogue with the United States without fear.
We are in a process of dialogue, of working with the United States, without any fear, to confront our differences and difficulties and to address them through diplomacy, Rodriguez said.
The invitation reflects a head-snapping shift in relations between Washington and Caracas sinceUS Delta Forceoperatives swooped into Caracas, seized PresidentNicolas Maduroand spirited him to a US jail to face narcotrafficking charges.
Read moreVenezuela to use US-brokered oil sale to boost battered currency
Rodriguez was a former vice-president and long-time insider in Venezuelas authoritarian and anti-American government, before changing tack as interim president.
She is still the subject of US sanctions, including an asset freeze.
But with a flotilla of US warships still amassed off the Venezuelan coast, she has allowed the United States to broker the sale of Venezuelanoil, facilitated foreign investment and released dozens of political prisoners.
A senior White House official said Rodriguez would visit soon, but no date has been set.
All for oil
The last bilateral visit by a sitting Venezuelan president came in the 1990s before populist leader Hugo Chavez took power.
Since then, successive Venezuelan governments have made a point of thumbing their noses atWashingtonand building close ties with US foes inChina, Cuba,Iranand Russia.
The US trip, which has yet to be confirmed by Venezuelan authorities, could pose problems for Rodriguez inside the government where some hardliners still detest what they see as Washingtons hemispheric imperialism.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez remain powerful forces in the country, and analysts say their support for Rodriguez is not a given.
Read moreCIA chief meets Venezuela's interim leader to discuss 'potential opportunities'
Trump has so far appeared happy to allow Rodriguez and much of the repressive government to remain in power, so long as the United States has access to Venezuelan oil the largest proven reserves in the world.
Trump hosted Venezuelas exiled opposition leader and Nobel peace laureateMaria Corina Machadoat the White Houseearlier this month.
After initially dismissing Machado and her ability to control the countrys powerful armed forces and intelligence services, he said Tuesday that he would love to have her involved in some way.
Machados party is widely considered to have won the 2024 elections that Washington said were stolen by Maduro.
Analysts say Trumps embrace of Rodriguez and avoidance of wholesale regime change can be explained by an unwillingness to repeat mistakes made in the overthrow ofSaddam Husseinin Iraq.
Those kinds of intervention operations and the deployment of troops for stabilisation have always ended very badly, said Benigno Alarcon, a politics expert at the Andres Bello Catholic University in Caracas.
Trumps stance has, however, angered democracy activists who argue that all political prisoners must be freed and granted amnesty, andVenezuelamust hold fresh elections.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Originally published on France24
