Venezuela and Israel have taken a first step to restore diplomatic relations after 17 years. Both governments have announced a joint mechanism for the provision of consular services to their resident citizens. The decision, however, does not imply the reestablishment of diplomatic ties that then-leader Hugo Chávez broke in 2009, due to the Cast Lead offensive in Gaza and the recognition of the Palestinian State.
Read more Luca Hoek transports to Spain the first world of speed
“The Governments of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the State of Israel inform that they have agreed to continue bilateral technical cooperation derived from emergency and recovery efforts following the double earthquake, as well as to establish a coordination mechanism for the provision of consular services to their respective resident citizens in both countries,” summarized Venezuela’s foreign minister, Félix Plasencia. “The two governments recognize the importance of the relationship between the State of Israel and the Jewish community residing in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which serves as an important bridge of historical friendship between the two countries,” adds a joint statement released this Tuesday.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar emphasized that the measure “creates an official coordination channel between Israel and Venezuela” and presented it as another “diplomatic success” in just 24 hours, after the new Colombian government of Abelardo de la Espriella recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the Syrian territory it has occupied since the Six-Day War of 1967 and annexed in the 1980s. The measure breaks the international consensus on the matter and makes it the second country in the world to do so, along with the US, during Donald Trump’s first term in 2019.
Former enemies
The earthquake in Venezuela has tightened relations with former enemies, partly due to the direct oversight Washington exerts over the government of Delcy Rodríguez. Israel was one of the first countries to send a humanitarian delegation of rescuers and specialists in collapsed structure analysis. The acting president met with Israeli military authorities and awarded them decorations, a decision that triggered messages of displeasure on social media among the most radical sectors of Chavismo. Last October, when Nicolás Maduro was still in power, Rodríguez joined the government’s rejection of the Israeli invasion of Gaza, which has left tens of thousands dead since 2023.
Chávez broke relations with Israel with a message that was recalled again this Tuesday. “Cursed be you, State of Israel,” conjured the then president of Venezuela on television. Palestine has an embassy in Caracas, murals, and monuments in support of its cause.
But the United States has reconfigured Venezuela’s geopolitics. Weeks ago, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry sent protest notes to Iran, which for years was Chavismo’s main ally and assisted it during the fuel crisis in the pandemic. The complaint was about “disparaging and improper expressions about Venezuelan institutions and authorities” by Tehran. The foreign ministry demanded “the cessation of any allusion or comparison that undermines the dignity, sovereignty, institutionality, or good name” of Venezuela, without clarifying which statements it referred to.
Days earlier, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, had said in an interview that Iran “is not Venezuela,” apparently in relation to the operation with which the United States overthrew President Nicolás Maduro in a matter of hours and sided with the acting government.
Read more Barça loses Roony due to ligament injury
