Caracas.- Venezuela and the United States agreed to fight drug trafficking together in the region during a meeting in Caracas between the acting president of the South American country, Delcy Rodríguez, and the head of the United States Southern Command, Francis Donovan, reported this Wednesday the Venezuelan Minister of Communication, Miguel Ángel Pérez Pirela.
“Both countries agreed to work on designing a bilateral cooperation agenda to combat the trafficking of illicit substances” and terrorism, as well as to jointly address migration, the official pointed out on the social network X.
Initially, Pérez Pirela said in his message on X that a joint fight against terrorism had also been agreed upon, but he later deleted it.
Venezuela’s Defense and Interior ministers, Vladimir Padrino López and Diosdado Cabello, respectively, were also at the meeting, according to the Minister of Communication.
“The meeting confirms that the diplomatic path should be the mechanism to resolve differences and address issues of binational and regional interest, of interest to all parties,” he added.
The U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in the Caribbean country, Laura Dogu, previously indicated on X that Donovan’s visit concluded this Wednesday, after meeting “with the interim authorities to assess the security issue, guarantee the implementation of the three-phase plan” of President Donald Trump and “advance the goal of a Venezuela aligned with the United States.”
The plan Dogu referred to has, according to Washington, three phases for the transition in Venezuela, after the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on January 3rd amid an attack by US military troops on Caracas and three nearby regions.
The three phases would be the stabilization of the country and “restoration of security”, the recovery of the economy and a “transition” to a “friendly, stable, prosperous and democratic Venezuela”.
According to another embassy post on X, General Donovan, in office for two weeks, reiterated to the Caracas authorities his country’s commitment “to a free, safe and prosperous Venezuela, for the benefit of the Venezuelan people, the United States and the Western Hemisphere.”
In the same social network, the Southern Command called the meetings with the Venezuelan authorities “productive”, which were also attended by the Chargé d’Affaires and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of National Defense of the U.S., Joseph M. Humire.
“U.S. Southern Command is committed to advancing the National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy, working in collaboration with partner nations to build a secure and prosperous future for the hemisphere,” the military division added on X.
The Rodríguez government maintains close contacts with the United States, primarily aimed at restoring diplomatic relations, which were severed since 2019, and revitalizing the South American country’s oil industry.
Donovan visited Venezuela a week after U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright did, with whom Rodríguez signed a long-term energy agreement, the details of which are still unknown.
