Yván Gil, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister, alongside European diplomats in Caracas, on January 12, 2026. Photo: VTV.
Guacamaya, January 12, 2026. In a meeting held in Caracas, Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, met this Monday with the diplomatic corps of the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, where they agreed on the need to move toward productive engagement and open deeper and more intensive channels of dialogue between Caracas and these delegations, reported Foreign Minister Yván Gil to EFE.
Amid a context of heightened international tension following the U.S. attack on January 3 and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro in a military operation in Caracas, acting President Rodríguez held the meeting with the diplomatic corps of the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom, and Switzerland accredited in Venezuela, aiming to “advance toward a stage of productive engagement” and foster deeper dialogue channels, according to Foreign Minister Yván Gil.
Gil explained to the press that it was a meeting with a “pleasant” tone in which there was agreement on the importance of opening deeper and more intensive dialogue channels, emphasizing the need to review commercial, productive, scientific, and technological relations that Venezuela maintains with the European countries present. “We reviewed commercial relations in the productive sector, science and technology, economic matters, and other areas in which European companies have been operating in our country for a long time,” he said.
The acting president, for her part, conveyed the message that “working within the framework of respect and equality among States” it is possible to advance an agenda that benefits both the peoples of Europe and Venezuela. “It is possible to advance an agenda for the welfare of the peoples of Europe and Venezuela,” Rodríguez stated during the meeting, according to the official version.
Before January 3, contacts between Caracas and the European Union had been limited and, in many cases, discreet or informal, marked by years of political tension and personal sanctions imposed by Brussels and its member states on senior Venezuelan officials, for alleged human rights violations and a deficit of democratic legitimacy. The EU, while stating that it will maintain communication and dialogue channels to safeguard interests and promote a peaceful transition, had limited public engagement.
This recent meeting with the European, UK, and Swiss diplomatic corps —countries that have traditionally advocated multilateral mechanisms and political dialogue— reflects a more public and official interlocution from Caracas compared to previous dynamics, in which relations with the EU and other Western diplomatic missions were handled mainly discreetly or indirectly, without joint press conferences or such explicit official statements.
In the specific case of Switzerland, its facilitation role between political actors in Venezuela and sustained support for dialogue between opposition sectors and the government should also be highlighted.
The dialogue occurs at a time when Venezuela has also initiated exploratory contacts with the United States for the possible restoration of diplomatic relations, after years of rupture, with the sending of delegations to evaluate the reopening of embassies and missions.
In this complex scenario, the acting government of Venezuela seeks to relaunch its international presence and explore frameworks for economic and political cooperation that could help mitigate the internal crisis and rebuild bridges with key European actors and other traditional allies to gain legitimacy, even amid strong criticism from multilateral organizations and governments calling for respect for democratic processes in the country.
