Venezuela: Marco Rubio meets new Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco in Washington on Monday

Washington — United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet on Monday, November 2, in Washington with Venezuela’s new foreign minister, Oliver Blanco, at a time of growing cooperation between the two governments, the State Department said on Sunday.

The meeting, listed on Rubio’s official schedule, will take place at State Department headquarters at 10:00 a.m. local time, 11:00 a.m. in Venezuela. It will be the first meeting between the two countries’ top diplomats since the United States and Venezuela restored diplomatic relations following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. operation in Caracas in January.

Rubio will receive Blanco just days after Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, named him foreign minister on Thursday, replacing Félix Plasencia, who moved to head the Presidency’s International Affairs Directorate.

Blanco, who had been serving as deputy foreign minister, met on Friday with the U.S. Embassy’s chargé d’affaires in Caracas, John Barrett, and reaffirmed his country’s commitment to “dialogue and cooperation” with the United States.

The meeting comes amid a rapprochement between Washington and Caracas following the restoration of diplomatic relations, and on the eve of a week in which the regional agenda will also be marked by the U.S. legislative elections, scheduled for Tuesday.

Photo: Archivo A Lo Claro

Source: Por la Calle del Medio, via EFE