Paraguay, Chile and the Dominican Republic are pursuing separate contacts with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, whose Sept. 23 U.N. address promised elections but named no date.
At an Oct. 12 meeting in Rome, Dominican President Luis Abinader reported that the Dominican consulate in Venezuela had reopened. Rodríguez said Venezuela would soon designate a consul in Santo Domingo, according to the Dominican presidency.
Refinería Dominicana de Petróleo (Refidomsa) and Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) are to discuss possible direct purchases of petroleum products, including AC30 fuel and liquefied petroleum gas, the presidency said. Its statement reported talks but no completed purchase.
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña met Rodríguez in Caracas on Sept. 19. A joint statement described plans to expand commercial cooperation and rebuild diplomatic relations gradually.
Chile’s government announced on July 30 that consular relations with Venezuela had been restored, citing security, migration and economic development. Chilean President José Antonio Kast later met Rodríguez in New York on Sept. 23.
The contacts follow disputes over Venezuela’s July 2024 presidential election. The Carter Center said the National Electoral Council (CNE) had not published results by polling station, leaving the center unable to verify the declared outcome. It said the vote did not meet democratic standards. Paraguay recognized Edmundo González Urrutia as president-elect in January 2025, while the Dominican Republic had called for independently verifiable voting records. The South American trade bloc Mercosur continues to list Venezuela as suspended under its 2017 democracy decision.
The White House said U.S. forces apprehended Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela on Jan. 3; Rodríguez took office as acting president afterward. In her U.N. address, Rodríguez said her government had begun contact with opposition groups. She pledged elections but gave no timetable. Venezuelan rights group Foro Penal counted 322 political prisoners as of Oct. 5.
The Dominican presidency’s account gave no date for the Refidomsa–PDVSA follow-up.
