Delcy Rodríguez, Blessed by Trump, Fly to Turkey

Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodríguez is flying to Turkey on Monday for an official visit. Multiple sources familiar with the matter have confirmed this to the Middle East Eye news outlet.

Sources said that during this visit, Rodríguez is expected to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul.

Rodríguez has been in India since last week, where she is discussing energy, trade, and investment with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She is expected to travel to Istanbul as the next leg of this visit.

Turkey and Venezuela have strong political relations. Erdoğan maintained close ties with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was abducted by US forces in January and transferred to a detention center in New York, where he is facing a federal criminal case.

After Maduro was ousted from power, Rodríguez assumed office with the blessing of US President Donald Trump. Since then, she has overseen the expansion of Washington's interests in Venezuela, including those of the oil company Chevron.

Following the disputed results of the 2018 presidential election, Venezuela's opposition-led National Assembly declared Maduro a usurper of power. He visited Turkey multiple times in January 2019 and received open support from Erdoğan.

At that time, Erdoğan called Maduro and told him, "Brother, you must stand firm. We are with you."

Maduro was also among the first leaders to call Erdoğan after the attempted military coup against him in July 2016. As a result, by 2023, trade transactions worth approximately $1 billion were completed, particularly in the mining and gold sectors.

People informed about the upcoming visit have said that Rodríguez still recalls Turkey's support in past years and is eager to further deepen trade and investment through new initiatives.

A person knowledgeable about Venezuela's affairs said that Ankara may be particularly interested in the country's oil and gold sectors.

In February 2024, the energy ministers of Turkey and Venezuela signed two separate memoranda of understanding concerning oil, natural gas, and mineral resources. Later that year, Maduro told the media that the two countries had also signed an agreement for Turkey to extract gold from a goldfield in southern Venezuela.

However, stringent US sanctions on Venezuela's energy and mining sectors have prevented both countries from undertaking further initiatives in these areas.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration eased some of those sanctions, which could open the door for investment by Turkey's public and private sectors.

Around 2019, Turkey was importing significant amounts of gold in exchange for exporting goods. However, the volume of this trade decreased over time as it came under investigation by the US government.

Source: Middle East Eye