Qatar has served as a reliable space for dialogue between Washington and Caracas. Photo: Social media.
Guacamaya, October 6, 2025. The Gulf emirate, known for its role as a mediator in international conflicts, is keeping a communication channel open between the United States and Venezuela amid tensions over the US military presence in the Caribbean.
The spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majed Al-Ansari, confirmed in statements to the Colombian channel Noticias Caracol that Doha maintains an open communication channel between Caracas and Washington, which has been used on several occasions to “bring and discuss ideas that could de-escalate” the growing tension. This revelation comes at a time marked by rumors that the government of Nicolás Maduro had requested Qatari mediation in the face of pressure and the threat of a US military attack and the serious tensions in the Caribbean.
Qatar’s prominence in this type of effort is not new. Over the last two decades, the country has shifted from being concerned solely with its own security to becoming a mediator in conflicts in different regions of the world. This transformation is part of its National Vision 2030, which seeks to project Doha as a global center for diplomacy, finance, and energy.
After overcoming the regional blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia and its allies between 2017 and 2021, the emirate understood that its survival depended on playing the role of a neutral intermediary. Since then, it has been key in agreements between the United States and the Taliban, humanitarian exchanges in Gaza, peace negotiations in Sudan and Chad, and mediation in the 2008 Lebanese crisis.
The Precedent of the Doha Agreements
Qatar’s involvement in Venezuela is not an isolated or new move, but rather part of this network of mediations. Since 2022, the channel between Doha, Caracas, and Washington has yielded some concrete results: the release of US citizens detained in Venezuela, a partial relief of oil sanctions in exchange for minimal commitments on electoral and humanitarian matters, and the creation of a space for dialogue parallel to the talks in Mexico and Barbados during the Biden administration.
Qatar is a communication channel but not yet a formal negotiation between Washington and Caracas
It is important to clarify that the statements by the Qatari spokesperson do not refer to a formal negotiation, as was the case during the Biden era, when meetings between representatives of the United States and Venezuela were actually held. In this case, they refer solely to the existence of a communication channel where each party sets out its positions and concerns.
Days ago, Nicolás Maduro stated that the channels with Washington were “battered and deeply deteriorated,” while the US government also denied the possibility of negotiating with Caracas. However, President Trump’s special envoy, Richard Grenell, spoke publicly about the need to open a negotiation process and assured that he maintains contacts with the Maduro administration.
In that sense, a difference can be established with the previous process under the Biden administration: although it was secret, a formal negotiation that went beyond a simple communication channel did exist. Today, Qatar seems to be offering itself as a facilitator and leaving the door open for that possibility to materialize again under the new reality.
In an analysis published some months ago in Guacamaya, we pointed out that, if the Trump administration considers it, Qatar could play a role for Venezuela similar to that of Oman in the case of the Iranian nuclear program or that of Saudi Arabia in the indirect talks between Moscow and Washington over the war in Ukraine. However, the influence of hardline sectors of US politics, led by senators from Florida and the neoconservative-line Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, makes a negotiation scenario seem complex for now.
For Caracas, the value of this channel lies in the fact that Qatar combines neutrality, experience, and financial capacity. This would not only allow for discussing a potential easing of sanctions, the release of detained Venezuelan and foreign citizens, but also opening markets for Venezuelan oil and managing humanitarian support. For Washington, Doha offers a less rigid and more pragmatic space to address a conflict as delicate as the Venezuelan one.
The Venezuelan case confirms Doha’s strategy of using its “soft power”—investments, humanitarian diplomacy, and global projection through events like the 2022 Soccer World Cup—to establish itself as a reliable international mediator. Even so, the success of its role will depend on whether both the United States and Venezuela are willing to commit.
In an increasingly fragmented international scenario, Gulf nations are consolidating themselves as new bridges for dialogue between adversaries. Qatar, with its pragmatic approach, offers Venezuela and the United States an alternative: to move from confrontation to discreet diplomacy, although it remains an uphill path.
The challenge, however, is that neither Washington nor Caracas seem willing, for now, to make substantive concessions. Qatar can open the channel, offer the negotiating room, and facilitate resources on the table, but the success of this mechanism depends on the main actors wanting to move beyond symbolic gestures.
For the moment, neither the United States nor Venezuela has commented officially on these statements.
