The countdown to restoring relations with Venezuela

The tall, 34-year-old Caracas politician Oliver Blanco, an opponent of chavismo, was the third Venezuelan foreign minister — appointed by Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez — that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Pérez Mackenna, had to deal with since taking office on March 11. The meeting took place on the morning of November 5, on the sidelines of the 30th Ibero-American Summit, held in Madrid, and the conversation flowed more smoothly than it had with his two predecessors, Yván Gil and Félix Plasencia. In addition to reviewing progress in the process of normalizing consular relations, the ministers entered — for the first time — the political arena. Blanco, identified as the White House's man in the Venezuelan transition process, invited Pérez to take part in his country's opening to private investment, after nearly two decades of tight state control under the governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro. For his part, the newly appointed Venezuelan chancellor, who had just met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, asked Pérez for support in rebuilding the areas affected by the recent earthquake, and for the tax reform and social protection processes that Rodríguez, backed by the United States and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), is preparing. The meeting, at the Royal Collections Gallery museum in the Spanish capital, ended with an informal exchange of WhatsApp messages. Beyond the ideological rapport between Pérez and Blanco, the meeting, according to Foreign Ministry sources, crowned a slow process of rebuilding mutual trust since President José Antonio Kast arrived at La Moneda, following the abrupt rupture of relations on July 29, 2024. That day, the day after the elections in Venezuela, then-president Nicolás Maduro ordered the expulsion of the entire Chilean diplomatic and police delegation, in retaliation for the stance of Gabriel Boric's government, which did not recognize his electoral victory and demanded transparency in the process. "The Maduro regime must understand that the results it publishes are hard to believe. The international community, and above all the Venezuelan people, including the millions of Venezuelans in exile, demand total transparency of the tally sheets," said Boric from the United Arab Emirates, where he was on an official tour. Gil, then Maduro's foreign minister, accused Boric of positioning himself to the right of Javier Milei and described his government as "Pinochetist and coup-mongering." The then Chilean ambassador to Caracas, socialist Jaime Gazmuri, recalls that it was a difficult moment. "They gave us 72 hours to leave the country (...). We tried to keep the consulate operating, serving both Venezuelans and Chileans, with local staff, which went on for a month and a half, but afterwards the Maduro government prevented it." "I can't understand why diplomatic relations still haven't been restored and ambassadors haven't been appointed. Fifty days have passed since the meeting between the two presidents." That is why, upon taking office, things were not easy for Pérez, who had set among his "short-term" goals with Kast the restoration of relations between the two countries. This, after the US military intervention in Venezuela on January 3, which ended with the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and their transfer to a prison in New York. Under pressure to find a solution to the problem of irregular Venezuelan migrants — one of the Republican leader's main campaign promises — for which the reopening of consular offices is indispensable, the Chilean chancellor had to deal, in the first months, with Gil, the same minister who had expelled the Chileans and had also harshly criticized Kast. It was not easy. From La Moneda they point out that the immediate humanitarian aid provided by the government to Venezuela, after the two consecutive high-magnitude earthquakes that struck the country on June 24, served to "break the ice" between the two countries and build trust. In addition to a large contingent of rescuers, Chile sent a group of 14 structural experts, led by academics from the Catholic University, headed by Matías Hube, director of the Department of Structural and Geotechnical Engineering. Along with them, Interior Undersecretary Máximo Pavez and Second Floor adviser Andrés Jouannet traveled on an Air Force plane. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Pérez Mackenna, together with his Venezuelan counterpart, Oliver Blanco, met on November 5, on the sidelines of the 30th Ibero-American Summit, held in Madrid. Consulates open On July 13, in the midst of the political and infrastructure reconstruction process, Rodríguez appointed Félix Plasencia as her new foreign minister, replacing Gil. Although he also belonged to chavismo, the new chancellor was a career diplomat, with a long track record in the foreign service and a less political profile, which Pérez saw as an opening to advance his plan to restore relations — first consular, then economic, and finally diplomatic. In the last week of July, Pérez picked up his phone, found good signal on the terrace of his office — located on the 15th floor of the José Miguel Carrera building — and called Plasencia directly, proposing, without beating around the bush, the resumption of consular relations. The phone contact had an almost immediate effect. On July 30, Kast announced the reestablishment of consular relations with the oil-rich country — accompanied by the chancellor — at a press point in the Patio de Los Naranjos. At almost the same hour, the Rodríguez government did the same, along with a joint declaration establishing a roadmap for the progressive normalization of bilateral relations. Chile designated diplomat Felipe Orellana as consul general to reopen the offices in Caracas and Puerto Ordaz, which will serve the 25,000 Chileans in Venezuela. Caracas is expected to do the same in Santiago. "At the consular level, resuming relations is very important; moving to a higher level of relations — appointing ambassadors — requires, in my view, a more careful look at the political evolution of the regime installed in Venezuela." According to PDI figures, there are nearly six thousand Venezuelans with pending expulsion decrees that have not been carried out due to lack of documentation, the same documentation that cannot be obtained because of the suspension of consular work. The Venezuelan embassy and consulate, on Bustos Street at Pedro de Valdivia, in Providencia, is finalizing details to begin receiving hundreds of citizens of that country who have pending procedures. One of the significant changes will be the digitalization of document apostilles and the travel permit. It is estimated, however, that only at the end of the year — probably the last two weeks of December — consular activities and services in Chile will gradually resume. In Providencia, the decision was made to avoid at all costs the re-emergence of crowds on Bustos Street, and meetings have been held with the foreign ministries of both countries. Mayor Jaime Bellolio's proposal is to provide a subsidy to the Nuestra Señora de Pompeya Parish, where the Chilean Catholic Institute of Migration (Incami) is located, and to set up there, on Avenida General Bustamante, a mobile consulate. "Depending on the volume of people that must be attended once the consulate reopens, we do not rule out enabling one of our schools, a stadium, or a sports venue," Bellolio adds. The suspension of consular and diplomatic relations with Venezuela interrupted the expulsions of citizens of that country. ALEX DIAZ/ATON CHILE Business visit to the Caribbean country From the Foreign Ministry they say that Pérez follows with special interest the process of Venezuela's opening to private investment, which has the backing of the White House, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and other international organizations. Trade relations between the two countries began to plummet from 2009 and hit bottom in 2013, with Maduro's arrival at the Palacio de Miraflores. Pérez's bet is to recover the trade peak that occurred in 2008, with Chilean exports to the Caribbean country ranging between one billion and one billion four hundred million dollars, and Venezuelan imports of US$225 million. And ideally to surpass them. That is why the Carrera building is preparing a high-level business visit to Venezuela, agreed by both ministers at their summit in Madrid. Pérez, familiar with similar political and economic opening processes that have occurred in other countries, knows that they begin with private investment in strategic sectors of the economy — in the Venezuelan case, oil, gas, mining, and electricity — and will continue with the hotel, fruit, and aquaculture industries, among others. "Arrive first and never last" is one of the maxims that have guided Pérez — former general manager of Quiñenco — throughout his extensive business career, where anticipating opportunities has been his hallmark. The Chilean government's aid to Venezuela after the earthquakes that struck the country on June 24 served to restore trust between the two countries, say Foreign Ministry sources. The final link The next step is the official reinstatement of diplomatic relations, with the opening of the respective embassies and the appointment of their representatives. The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry is working on this. They will start with Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and Peru, and then Chile. From the Foreign Ministry in Santiago they avoid giving dates, the circumstances under which the announcement could be made, and names; they also acknowledge that the conversations are on solid ground and that the approved resources to reopen our diplomatic headquarters in Caracas are already in place. "We do not want to set deadlines. Diplomacy requires prudence, caution, and discretion. Venezuela's timelines and processes must be respected," they say. However, there would already be candidates on the table, and everything indicates that an ambassador with political experience will have the privilege of reopening the Chilean representation, located on the 10th floor of the Torre La Noria, in the Las Mercedes business district. "I can't understand why diplomatic relations still haven't been restored and ambassadors haven't been appointed," says Gazmuri, adding that more than 50 days have passed since the meeting between Kast and Rodríguez on September 23 in New York, on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, where both declared their interest in resuming ties and sent several signals of trust. One of these came after the meeting, when the president went to deliver her speech before the plenary of the multilateral organization accompanied by Kast, who listened attentively from the front rows. Gazmuri values the normalization of consular relations, but warns that, in the current migration context and fight against organized crime, with gangs such as El Tren de Aragua, which originated in Venezuela, consulates are not enough. Embassies are needed. "Therefore, in my view — he adds — the restoration of diplomatic relations with Venezuela is a matter of national interest, because of the urgency of police cooperation, which is above any personal opinion one may have about the current political situation." Gloria de la Fuente, former Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs of the previous government, also values the normalization of consular relations, but has misgivings about restoring diplomatic relations. "The consular level is very important, given the enormous number of Venezuelans living in Chile in regular and irregular situations. Moving to a higher level of relations — appointing ambassadors — requires, in my view, a more careful look at the political evolution of the regime installed in Venezuela. Having more certainty about what is going to happen," says the also chairwoman of the board of Horizonte Ciudadano. De la Fuente warns that, so far, Washington has prioritized the economic recovery of the South American country over progress on democratic matters. On this, the renowned Venezuelan political analyst Luis Vicente León explains that there are a large number of countries and international institutions, including the IDB and the International Monetary Fund, that have established relations with the government of Delcy Rodríguez, "not from the point of view of its legitimacy, but rather from that of territorial control, legality, and recognition of the State." "With an increase in productive activity, a political negotiation moving toward reinstitutionalization — and which is estimated to lead to an electoral process in the future — it seems completely rational to me that Chile moves forward along with Venezuela toward the full restoration of diplomatic relations," says León, who is also president of the consultancy Datanálisis. From the Carrera building they say that the political and ideological factor is not an issue for Pérez. "If Venezuela is doing well, Chile is doing well," he says, echoing a phrase coined by Kast.