US officials hold Venezuela meetings amid hunt for alternative oil supplies

US officials hold Venezuela meetings amid hunt for alternative oil supplies

A high-level US delegation has met top government officials in Venezuela, as the world seeks alternative suppliers to replace Russian oil if western sanctions on Moscow are tightened after its invasion of Ukraine.

Juan González, the top White House official on Latin America, was in Caracas on Saturday for meetings with President Nicolás Maduro’s government, according to a source familiar with the discussions. Two other sources confirmed that a senior US delegation was in Caracas for meetings.

These represent a big policy shift, as the US broke off diplomatic relations with Maduro in 2019 and closed its embassy, accusing him of stealing a presidential election the previous year.

There was no official US confirmation of the high-level visit, which was first reported by the New York Times, but data from flight-tracking website ADS-B Exchange showed a Gulfstream jet leaving a Washington airport and flying to Caracas via Miami on Saturday. There are no commercial flights from the US to Venezuela at present.

Maduro has been a close ally of Russia and Moscow’s deputy foreign minister Yuri Borisov visited Caracas only days before Russia invaded Ukraine. But experts said US officials see an opportunity to ease longstanding sanctions on Venezuelan oil and coax Maduro away