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Caracas, February 12, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez hosted US Energy Secretary Chris Wright at Miraflores Palace in Caracas on Wednesday.

Wright is the highest-ranked US official to be received at the presidential palace in over 25 years. The high-profile visit took place a little over a month after US forces bombed Caracas and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores on January 3.

Rodríguez and Wright, who was accompanied by US Chargé d’Affaires Laura Dogu, held a private meeting before briefly addressing the press.

Venezuela’s acting leader centered her statements on a joint “energy agenda” between Caracas and Washington that could be “mutually beneficial.” The talks reportedly included discussions on oil, natural gas, electricity, and mineral projects.

“The main point in our agenda is the establishment of a long-term productive alliance, with an energy agenda that becomes the engine of our bilateral relations,” Rodríguez told reporters. “This energy agenda should be effective, complementary, and beneficial for both countries.

Defending the recent rapproachment, she pointed to Venezuela and the United States’ energy ties dating back 150 years. 

“Our relationship has had its ups and downs in political terms, but I am confident that through diplomacy we can overcome our differences,” Rodríguez added. She made no mention of Maduro in her public remarks. 

Rodríguez, who served under Maduro as vice president, assumed the presidency on an acting basis on January 5 as directed by the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Chamber. Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to charges including drug trafficking conspiracy.

Venezuelan authorities have fast-tracked a diplomatic reengagement with the Trump administration since the January 3 attacks. In a recent interview, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez, brother of the acting president, emphasized the prospect of establishing a “win-win” relationship with Washington.

The parliamentary leader stated that Venezuela was “adapting” legislation to attract US investment. The Venezuelan legislature recently overhauled the country’s Hydrocarbon Law to grant increased incentives to foreign corporations. Under the reformed law, private corporations will enjoy reduced taxes and royalties, as well as expanded control over operations and sales and the prerogative to take disputes to external arbitration bodies.

For his part, Wright said that he brought “a message” from Trump, that the US president was committed to a “broader agenda to make the Americas great again.” The Energy Secretary praised a “wonderful and candid dialogue” with Venezuelan leaders and spoke of “tremendous opportunities” in the Caribbean nation’s energy sector.

Wright highlighted the Trump administration’s recent sanctions waivers allowing US companies to return to the Venezuelan oil sector and permitting exports of diluents, other inputs, and technology for oil operations to the South American country.

“We have been working to issue licenses to existing businesses, to new businesses that want to enter Venezuela, for Venezuelan companies to buy [US] products and raise oil production,” he continued. “We want to set the Venezuelan people, and the economy, free.”

On Thursday, Rodríguez and Wright visited Petroindependencia, a crude upgrader in the Orinoco Oil Belt. According to reports, Wright is also scheduled to visit Petropiar. Chevron is a minority stakeholder in both joint ventures. The US official will also hold meetings with business executives, and claimed he wants to “improve the management” of PDVSA.

Since January, the Trump administration has exerted control over Venezuelan oil exports. Commodity traders Vitol and Trafigura have lifted Venezuelan crude to resell to other customers, while depositing proceeds in US-run accounts in Qatar. Washington has thus far returned to Caracas US $500 million out of a reported $2 billion initial agreement.

The recent licenses likewise mandate that payments be made to accounts designated by the US Treasury and block transactions with companies from China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Russia. US forces have maintained a naval blockade and seized several tankers for allegedly transporting Venezuelan crude. PDVSA also remains under financial sanctions.

Former President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013) had a confrontational relationship with Washington, repeatedly denouncing US interventions abroad, including in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. He likewise promoted several regional integration projects.

Maduro severed diplomatic ties with the US in 2019 after the first Trump administration formally recognized the Juan Guaidó-led self-proclaimed “interim government” as the country’s legitimate authority.

Despite the rapid rapprochement, the White House has yet to recognize the acting government of Delcy Rodríguez. The formal recognition could pave the way for a restructuring of Venezuela’s sizable foreign debt.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has hailed several new trade agreements, pledging to further diversify Ottawa’s partners while saying he “expects” the United States to respect his country’s sovereignty.

Carney discussed the trade deals during a meeting on Thursday with provincial and territorial leaders.

“Our country is more united, ambitious and determined than it has been in decades, and it’s incumbent on all of us to seize this moment, build big things together,” Carney said, as he hailed 12 new economic and security accords reached over the last six months.

His comments come amid ongoing frictions with the administration of US President Donald Trump, which has previously pushed to make Canada a “51st state”.

Carney highlighted in particular a new agreement with China to lower trade levies. That deal prompted a rebuke last week from Trump, who threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on Canada.

In the face of Trump’s accusations that Canada would serve as a “drop-off port” for Chinese goods, Carney clarified that Ottawa was not seeking a free-trade agreement with Beijing.

But on Thursday, he nevertheless played up the perks he said the agreement would offer to Canada’s agriculture sector.

“Part of that agreement unlocks more than $7bn in export markets for Canadian farmers, ranchers, fish harvesters and workers across our country,” Carney said.

Carney added that Ottawa would soon seek to advance “trading relationships with global giants” including India, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the South American trade bloc Mercosur.

“And we will work to renew our most important economic and security relationship with the United States through the joint review of the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement later this year,” he said, referring to the regional free trade agreement, which expires in July.

‘Respect Canadian sovereignty’

Carney’s pledge to diversify Canada’s portfolio of trade and security partners comes just eight days after he delivered an attention-grabbing speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

During the address, Carney warned that the “rules-based” international order was a fiction that was fading, replaced by “an era of great power rivalry”, where might makes right.

“We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false, that the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient, that trade rules were enforced asymmetrically,” Carney told the audience in Davos.

“We knew that international law applied with varying rigour depending on the identity of the accused or the victim.”

He ultimately called for the so-called “middle powers” of the world to rally together in these unpredictable times.

The speech was widely seen as a rebuke to Trump, who has launched an aggressive tariff campaign on global trading partners, including Canada.

In early January, Trump also abducted the leader of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, in what critics describe as a violation of international law.

His pledge to “run” Venezuela was followed by a series of aggressive statements towards the self-governing Danish territory of Greenland, which he threatened to seize.

Those threats have sent shudders through the NATO alliance, which counts both the US and Denmark as members.

Since before the start of his second term, Trump has also pushed to expand US control into Canada, repeatedly calling the country a “state” and its prime minister a “governor”.

In response to Carney’s speech at Davos, Trump withdrew Carney’s invitation to join his so-called Board of Peace.

Carney, however, has publicly stood by his statements, dismissing US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s claims that he “aggressively” walked back his position during a private call with Trump.

In a separate exchange on Thursday, Carney was asked about reports that US officials had met with separatists seeking independence for the oil-wealthy province of Alberta.

The Financial Times reported that State Department officials have held three meetings ​with the Alberta Prosperity Project, a group that pushes for a referendum on whether the energy-producing western province should break away from Canada.

“We expect the US administration to respect Canadian sovereignty,” Carney replied.

“I’m always clear in my conversations with President Trump to that effect.”