In an effort to further cement Venezuela’s ties to West Asia despite opposition from the US, earlier this week President Nicolas Maduro visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and held meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

On his way back from Turkey where he attended Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s inauguration, this was Maduro’s first visit to the region since 2015 when he was there for the Arab League Summit and it strengthens the perception that the Kingdom is looking to expand its global partnerships. Maduro’s visit to Saudi Arabia took place on the eve of the US Secretary Anthony’s visit.

The Venezuelan leader had tweeted that the purpose of his visit was to further strengthen the bilateral relations and cooperation in different sectors with Saudi Arabia. And, foreign ministers of both sides talked about sustainable development and other international issues.

There are several ways that Maduro’s visit can be viewed

Sharing his views with Financial Express Online, Md Muddassir Quamar, PhD, Associate Professor, Centre for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies, JNU says: “Firstly, it is a reflection that Saudi Arabia is looking to have an independent foreign policy dictated by its national interest and not by exogenous factors. This does not mean the ties between Saudi Arabia and the US are falling apart, instead they are becoming issue-based and diffused. That is on both regional and international issues they are likely to choose independent paths and can cooperate if their interests converge. Of course, this can also be Saudi signaling to the US that it is open to have diplomatic dialogue and explore possibilities with its adversaries.”

Secondly, “the visit is important for global oil geopolitics wherein both Venezuela and Saudi Arabia are founding members of OPEC. And they can work towards making the oil market less dependent on the US and its sanctions regime,” he explains.

Finally, in his opinion “one can also look at it as a function of geo-economics that both Saudi Arabia and Venezuela are exploring possibilities for economic cooperation and although with US sanctions this will be limited, it gives Riyadh some leverage. So, there are gains at multiple levels. One should also look at it as a function of a diffused US foreign policy that is unable to prioritise the issues, areas and partners it needs to focus on.”

The Venezuelan leader was also hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva along with other leaders from the region last month.

Venezuela, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, and many other countries are members of OPEC. Oil producers including countries like Russia, Mexico and Malaysia are part of the OPEC+ along with 13 other members.

Significance of the visit

Saudi Arabia has been making bold moves and is pursuing good relations with different countries despite the US pressure. Financial Express Online has reported earlier that in a deal brokered by China, Saudi Arabia had agreed to resume diplomatic relations with Iran and subsequently the two countries have opened their consulates in respective countries. Saudi Arabia also resumed its diplomatic relations with Syria and later this month is set to host a business conference where Chinese businesses will participate.

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Background

According to a US Congressional Research Service report released last November, several sanctions have been imposed on the South American nation Venezuela related to human rights abuses, corruption charges as well as drug trafficking. There are sanctions on financial transactions as well as on the country’s state oil company PDVSA.

However, in 2022, following the Russia-Ukraine war the Biden administration eased some of the oil related sanctions. In recent years the oil industry in that country has fallen into disarray amid economic and political crisis.

Maduro has been focusing on strengthening relations with West Asia. For instance earlier this year an Iranian automobile company gave 1000 vehicles to Venezuela and the two countries are already working together on energy matters.

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Balancing Relations

On Tuesday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah. And the talks were aimed at steadying relations between the US and oil rich Saudi Arabia after years of disagreements on a wide range of issues related to human rights, Iran, regional security and oil prices.

At the end of talks, according to an official statement from the US State Department both sides agreed to “advance stability, security, and prosperity across the Middle East and beyond”. Working towards achieving peace in Yemen too was part of discussions.