Lula’s Venezuela Reset Puts Trade and Oil Back at the Center

Lula’s Venezuela Reset Puts Trade and Oil Back at the Center
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, met on November 11 on the sidelines of COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, signalling a push to restore high-level relations between their countries after a period of strain.

The two accounts agree on the practical agenda. Lula and Rodríguez expressed interest in resuming bilateral ties “at the highest level,” according to the Brazilian government’s account as reported by one outlet. Their discussion covered the Economic Complementation Agreement No. 69, tariffs affecting Brazilian-made cars and the prospect of a Brazilian delegation travelling to Caracas for negotiations. They also considered expanding Brazilian investment in Venezuela’s oil industry, while agreeing that Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira would visit Venezuela before the end of the year.

The Brazil Right account presents the meeting chiefly as a commercial and energy-policy initiative. It emphasizes Lula’s interest in maintaining the trade agreement, recent Brazilian business missions to Venezuela, and his stated intention to deepen links with South American countries during his next term.

The Brazil Left account describes the same steps as a fuller diplomatic reset, saying the leaders agreed to “fully resume diplomatic ties” at the highest level. It situates the rapprochement after Lula’s decision not to recognize Nicolás Maduro’s July 2024 election victory amid fraud allegations, and says Lula had maintained telephone contact with Rodríguez after she assumed the interim presidency.

That account also links the talks to what it describes as intense US pressure on Venezuela and reports that Lula called the US military’s alleged January action against Maduro and Cilia Flores a “very serious affront” to Venezuelan sovereignty. Despite their different political framing, both accounts point to the same immediate result: trade, diplomatic contact and oil-sector cooperation are again central to Brasília’s engagement with Caracas.

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