minister

Mérida, November 3, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco held meetings with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a trip to Washington, DC, on Monday.

Blanco, who was appointed as the Caribbean nation’s top diplomat on October 30, is the highest-ranking Venezuelan official to be hosted by the Trump administration.

His morning summit with Rubio included a photo-op but no statements to the press. On social media, Blanco reaffirmed the acting Delcy Rodríguez government’s “commitment to continue building spaces for understanding for the benefit of Venezuela.”

“During the meeting, we discussed bilateral relations, regional challenges, cooperation, and energy security between our countries,” he wrote.

For his part, Rubio stressed the Trump administration’s “three-phase plan” for Venezuela, which comprises “stabilization, economic recovery and political reconciliation, and democratic transition.”

“[Rubio and Blanco] discussed progress in the Venezuelan-led reconciliation talks, including institutional reforms that lay the groundwork for free, fair, and credible elections,” a State Department press statement read.

The head of Venezuelan diplomacy followed up with a meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent which reportedly focused on “conditions for Venezuela’s full economic development.” Blanco added that the pair discussed Venezuela’s “access to multilateral financial bodies and bilateral economic cooperation opportunities.”

Despite reestablished diplomatic ties and significant US control over Venezuela’s economy and the oil industry, the US Treasury Department has maintained its wide-reaching sanctions program against the South American country, issuing only limited licenses granting exemptions to specific corporations.

The US Treasury Secretary congratulated Blanco on his recent appointment and claimed the White House is “committed to supporting Venezuela’s economic recovery.” 

“This Administration is committed to supporting Venezuela’s economic recovery, revitalizing critical sectors, boosting energy production, and reconnecting its financial sector to restore confidence, attract investment, and lay the groundwork for a more prosperous future,” Bessent stated on X.

The high-level Washington, DC meetings were Blanco’s first trip abroad as foreign minister. He had previously served as vice minister for Europe and North America. 

The 34-year-old foreign relations graduate hails from the ranks of the opposition Acción Democrática party and had been an outspoken critic of the Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro governments. In 2013, Blanco celebrated Chávez’s death, claiming he was in hell alongside Muammar Gaddafi and Osama Bin Laden. The tweet was recently deleted.

In 2016, Blanco was appointed head of communications for the opposition-controlled National Assembly that unsuccessfully tried to oust the Maduro government.

Since the January 3 military strikes and kidnapping of Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, Washington and Caracas fast-tracked a diplomatic rapprochement that included the reopening of their respective embassies after seven years of broken ties.

The Trump administration has backed legislative reforms, spearheaded energy deals, endorsed a dialogue process with the Venezuelan opposition, while also reportedly engaging in military and intelligence cooperation.

After assuming his role in the foreign ministry, Blanco became one of the most visible figures in the renewed relations with the US, often accompanying US Chargé d’Affaires John Barrett on visits and meetings around the country.

Barrett was among the first to congratulate Blanco following his promotion to head Venezuela’s diplomacy, wishing him “success as we work together on the three-phase plan.”

The two held a “cordial and constructive” meeting on Friday. 

Blanco flew to Spain following his US trip to take part in the Iberoamerican Summit taking place on Wednesday and Thursday.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

European diplomats have refused to stand for an official photo with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in the US, leading to the American hosts cancelling the planned picture.

Two officials confirmed to the BBC the cancellation of the so-called family photo scheduled for Friday morning, which would usually include representatives from all the nations in attendance.

The meeting, which gathers top diplomats from the world’s biggest economies, is being hosted in Atlanta by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Ukraine is not not a G20 member but has been invited to similar meetings in recent years. However, Ukraine was not invited to this meeting.

Relations between Ukraine and the US have been particularly tense this month, with a diplomatic standoff between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump over Kyiv’s strikes on oil infrastructure within Russia.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is present and a diplomatic source confirmed the UK was among the countries which refused to participate in the picture.

One British official said: “The UK has a longstanding policy not to have direct, bilateral engagement with Russian ministers since the invasion of Ukraine and we are not about to change that”.

A US official said the photo was cancelled “after it became clear some of the delegations were unwilling to participate in a joint photo”.

“Rather than allow a ceremonial photo opportunity to become a diplomatic distraction, the US decided to forgo the photo and keep the focus on the substantive discussions,” the official said.

In contrast to Ukraine, relations between the US and Russia appear to have partially thawed in recent weeks, as Trump waived some sanctions and agreed a deal to import Russian diesel for the American market.

The move comes as Trump attempts to lower fuel prices in the US ahead of mid-term elections at the start of November, after months spent grappling with the political consequences of the Iran war.

Ukraine and its European allies have heavily criticised Trump’s deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelensky called it “a gift” to Putin that amounts to “an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged”.

Trump said his decision to suspend several Russian sanctions is an effort to keep Moscow at the negotiating table in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Putin has said Russia, which introduced a ban on diesel exports earlier this year, is willing to supply both the US and global markets with oil and petroleum products.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and currently controls approximately a fifth of Ukrainian territory.

Moscow has in recent weeks intensified its deadly missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

Switzerland formally reopens diplomatic office in North Korea after its closure in 2020.

Switzerland has formally reopened its diplomatic office in North Korea as Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis held talks in Pyongyang about normalising political relations between the two countries.

On Friday Cassis wrapped up a two-day visit to North Korea – the first by a Swiss government minister in more than two decades – in which he discussed “regularising political relations and reestablishing a political dialogue”, he wrote on X.

Cassis, who is also Switzerland’s vice president, met Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui and Jo Yong Won, a secretary of the Central Committee of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party.

“We also exchanged views on security on the Korean Peninsula and broader Eurasian security challenges,” he added on X.

After the formal reopening of the Swiss diplomatic office on Thursday, Cassis posted that he was “pleased” to mark a “new chapter” in his country’s presence in Pyongyang, hailing the office as a “concrete step towards strengthening direct dialogue” with North Korea.

The office, operational since October 19, will not have an ambassador. It reports to the Swiss embassy in Beijing, which handles diplomatic and consular relations with North Korea. The office had closed in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This office will help to strengthen direct contacts with the authorities of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] and support political dialogue with them,” the Swiss Foreign Ministry said.

North Korea’s state news agency KCNA confirmed Cassis’s arrival in the country on Thursday but gave no details on the purpose of the visit. It had not been known beforehand whether he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and there has been no report of a meeting.

Bern said it intended to maintain its commitment to the region amid heightened tensions and limited international contact with North Korea, having been one of the few Western countries to keep up a dialogue with Pyongyang.

The last Swiss Federal Council member to visit was then-Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, in 2003.

Cassis crossed into South Korea on Friday for the final leg of his regional trip.

According to the Swiss foreign ministry, his talks in Seoul will focus on security on the peninsula, prospects for easing regional tensions and bilateral ties.

Switzerland’s involvement on the Korean Peninsula dates back more than 70 years, including its role on the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission.

Also in South Korea, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz invoked his country’s reunification during a visit to the inter-Korean border. “Let us hope that Korea, too, will one day have the chance to regain its national unity,” he said.

Three audio recordings between Madrid’s control centre and two train drivers appear to show that one high-speed train was given clearance to move even though another train had stalled on the track, about 25km (15 miles) ahead.

Puente had said that the decision to instruct the trains to move again, without any speed restrictions, was “inexplicable”.

The leaking of the audio recordings has been criticised by some Spanish politicians, with Alberto Ibáñez, a member of Congress for the left-wing Sumar platform, writing on X that they were “despicable”.

Meanwhile, Irene Montero – the prime ministerial candidate for the left-wing Podemos party – said responsibility for the crash should not be placed on one worker, adding that train drivers and experts have been warning against the liberalisation of the railway sector for years.

On Friday Puente said he was “not going to use any worker as a shield”.

But he said “many questions” arose as a result of the tragedy and he wanted to look at them “one by one”.

“If the investigation shows there is human error we will act in consequence of that,” he said.

The country is observing three days of mourning, as the families of victims and the survivors of the crash struggle to comprehend how it could have happened.

The conservative People’s Party joined calls for Puente’s resignation after trade union CSIF called for the same earlier this week.

But Puente said on Friday he would not budge from his position.

“The easy thing for me would be to leave, but neither that fits with my character nor is it what the Prime Minister has asked me to do,” he said.

“I feel immense pain and immense sadness for the victims and their relatives… I cannot let this pain paralyse me though. We have to find solutions to this problem.”

Additional reporting by Sergi Forcada Freixas

The first minister of Wales says his nation deserves a new deal from the United Kingdom. Rhun ap Iorwerth says its relationship with the UK is not working because the union is not one of equals. That is why he is pushing for an agreement that will fix what he calls “historic unfairness”.

In a letter to the British prime minister, the Welsh first minister has formally requested the transfer of more power to Wales to allow it to control its policing, justice system, rail network and natural resources. His centre-left Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, came to power in May, ending more than a century of Labour Party dominance in Wales. Just four months into his term, he signed a pact with Scotland and Northern Ireland declaring their right to self-determination, and warning the British Parliament that its time is coming to an end.

He insists that the agreement is not meant to tear down the UK but rather to allow the Welsh government to decide its own future. He says Wales is on the journey towards independence. But he will not push for a referendum this parliament.

Andy Burnham’s first Gogglebox appearance!

A sentence we never expected to say. Tonight, PM Andy Burnham and Steve Rotherham will make their debut on the show, sitting at 10 Downing Street. 
The programme airs in aid of Stand Up To Cancer, and Andy is no stranger to charitable causes. Throughout his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy often threw himself into work, helping those around him.

Tehran, Iran – Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi has been appointed Iran’s defence minister at a time when the war with the United States is expected to escalate.

The 68-year-old was approved on Sunday by parliament, which has convened online since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran on February 28, to assume leadership of the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics. In total, 237 lawmakers voted in favour of Akhlaghi’s appointment and 15 against.

Former Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed along with a large number of other senior figures, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on the opening day of the war.

The position was filled temporarily by Majid Ebn-e Reza, who will now become Akhlaghi’s deputy.

Akhlaghi will be responsible for rebuilding and expanding Iran’s military-industrial infrastructure, which has been heavily targeted by the US and Israel.

The new minister’s defence plans were approved earlier by senior military authorities, President Masoud Pezeshkian and parliament’s Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not be the instigator of aggression against any country but will defend the territorial integrity of the country strongly and to the death against any aggression,” Pezeshkian said.

The president said Akhlaghi has more than 42 years of experience in the Defence Ministry and related organisations.

His principal expertise is in ballistic missiles, solid-fuel propulsion, aerospace technology and military-industrial production, according to state media.

Previously, he served as the head of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, the Aerospace Industries Organization and the Defence Industries Organization. Akhlaghi and these entities are all subject to sanctions by the US. He is also under United Nations sanctions.

He has been associated with developing several missile types and related weapons-development projects over the past decades, according to Tasnim, a newspaper linked with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),

Akhlaghi reportedly played a role in expanding the major Sejjil and Zolfaghar family of Iranian ballistic missiles as well as precision-guided weapons, such as the Almas missiles and Yasin guided bombs.

He is also said to have expertise in space launchers, research rockets and infrastructure associated with the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Semnan. These have all been critical elements in Iran’s wars against Israel and the US.

This month, Iran’s Defence Ministry spokesman, Brigadier General Reza Talaei-Nik, told reporters that Akhlaghi’s nomination reflected Iran’s need to increase the quantity and quality of strategic weapons, particularly missiles and drones.

“Offensive arms are being actively improved,” the spokesman said.

The US has repeatedly claimed that it has destroyed most of Iran’s military-industrial capacities, but Tehran has maintained it continues to have considerable offensive and defensive capabilities outside the reach of US and Israeli bombs. These weapons have been upgraded based on Iran’s new war experience, it has insisted.

Akhlaghi told members of parliament this month that he had met with senior military commanders, including the commander-in-chief of the IRGC, Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, to develop a better understanding of their requirements during and after the war.

His priorities as defence minister would be faster military-industrial development, air defences, incorporation of emerging technologies using government and private sector firms, improvements in armed-forces welfare and development of international military cooperation, according to reports.

In his first comments as defence minister on Sunday, Akhlaghi taunted the administration of US President Donald Trump, which this month threatened to use the “mother of all bombs” on Iran’s nuclear and energy infrastructure.

“We have made preparations and continue our work with ease of mind,” he told reporters. “The US president must think of getting his forces out of our region in one piece. If he drops one bomb, he must see how many of his troops he will have to evacuate horizontally.”