The foreign relations of Venezuela had since the early twentieth century been particularly strong with the United States. However,since the election of Hugo Chávez as President of Venezuela in 1998,Venezuela's foreign policy differed substantially from that of previous Venezuelan governments. This change in foreign policy direction continues under the current president Nicolás Maduro.
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías was a Venezuelan politician and military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013,except for a brief period of forty-seven hours in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007,when it merged with several other parties to form the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV),which he led until 2012.
Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique is a Peruvian former politician who served as President of Peru,from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori,who held the presidency from 1990 to 2000. On October 21,2024 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for taking $35 million dollars in bribes to award the Brazilian company Odebrecht with a highway contract.
Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez was a Peruvian politician who served as President of Peru for two non-consecutive terms from 1985 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2011. He was the second leader of the Peruvian Aprista Party and to date the only party member ever to have served as President. Mentored by the founder of the APRA,Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre,he served in the Constituent Assembly of 1978–1979. Elected to the Peruvian Congress in 1980,he rose to the position of General Secretary of the APRA in 1982,and was subsequently elected to the presidency in 1985 in a landslide victory at the age of 35 years.
Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado was a Peruvian general who served as the President of Peru after a successful coup d'état against Fernando Belaúnde's presidency in 1968. Under his presidency,nationalism,as well as left-leaning policies that addressed indigenous Peruvians,such as nationalization or agrarian reform were adopted. These policies were reversed after another coup d'état in 1975 led by his Prime Minister,Francisco Morales Bermúdez.
Carlos Alfonso Ortega Carvajal is a former union and political leader in Venezuela. Ortega,then head of Fedepetrol,the oil workers union,was elected leader of the Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela (CTV) union federation in 2001. He played an important role during the Venezuelan general strike of 2002–2003,resulting in a 16-year prison term. Ortega ultimately escaped from prison on 13 August 2006.
United States–Venezuela relations have traditionally been characterized by an important trade and investment relationship as well as cooperation in combating the production and transit of illegal drugs.
The foreign policy of the Hugo Chávez administration concerns the policy initiatives made by Venezuela under its former President,Hugo Chávez,towards other states. Chávez's foreign policy may be roughly divided into that concerned with United States-Venezuela relations and that concerned with Venezuela's relations with other states,particularly those in Latin America and developing countries on other continents. In many respects the policies of the Chávez government were substantially different from the previous administrations that governed Venezuela.
James Curtis Struble is a former United States ambassador to Peru. Struble is a member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister Counselor. He has worked in U.S. embassies in Ecuador,Thailand,Honduras,Spain,Russia and Mexico.
Manuel Antonio Rosales Guerrero is a Venezuelan educator and politician,current governor of Zulia. He was the most prominent Venezuelan opposition candidate in the 2006 presidential election,losing to incumbent Hugo Chávez. He served as a congressman,mayor,and governor,but in April 2009,stepped down as Mayor of Maracaibo when he was charged with corruption in Venezuela and fled to Peru. Rosales denies the charges,and was granted political asylum in Peru. He was the presidential candidate for Un Nuevo Tiempo in the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election.
Israeli–Venezuelan relations refer to foreign relations between Israel and Venezuela. Both countries have no formal relations since 2009. Canada serves as Israel's protecting power in Venezuela through its embassy in Caracas,while Spain serves as Venezuela's protecting power in Israel through its embassy in Tel Aviv.
The 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis was a diplomatic stand-off involving the South American countries of Ecuador,Colombia and Venezuela. It began with an incursion into Ecuadorian territory across the Putumayo River by the Colombian military on March 1,2008,leading to the deaths of over twenty militants,including Raúl Reyes and sixteen other members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). This incursion led to increased tension between Colombia and Ecuador and the movement of Venezuelan and Ecuadorian troops to their borders with Colombia.
Under the rule of President Hugo Chávez who was elected President of Venezuela in 1998,relations between Israel and Venezuela rapidly deteriorated as Venezuela strongly supported the rights of the Palestinians and condemned Israeli actions,twice expelling the Israeli ambassador from Venezuela. Venezuela officially recognized the State of Palestine and established diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority on 27 April 2009.
Francisco Antonio Gregorio Tudela van Breugel-Douglas is a Peruvian scholar,diplomat and politician. A former Fujimorist politician and diplomat,he briefly served as the First Vice President of Peru between 28 July 2000 to 21 November 2000,during the brief third term of Alberto Fujimori and also as a Congressman between 2000 and 2001. He also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during the Fujimori administration and as a member of the Democratic Constituent Congress between 1992 and 1995.
The nations of Mexico and Venezuela established diplomatic relations in 1831,however,diplomatic relations between both nations have been historically unstable on several occasions. During the Venezuelan presidential crisis,Mexico took a neutral position and has continued to maintain diplomatic relations with the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
Jorge Alberto Arreaza Montserrat is a Venezuelan politician who has held several important positions in the administration of President Hugo Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro. From August 2017 to August 2021,Arreaza served as Venezuela's Minister of Foreign Affairs. Arreaza has been sanctioned by Canada and the United States for his role in the violation of human rights in Venezuela.
Spain–Venezuelan relations are the bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Spain and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Both nations are members of the Association of Spanish Language Academies and the Organization of Ibero-American States.
Milos Alcalay is a Venezuelan diplomat. He has served as Venezuela's Ambassador to Romania,Israel,and Brazil,the Venezuela Vice Minister of External Affairs,and Venezuela's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He resigned as Venezuela's Ambassador to the United Nations in March 2004 to protest Venezuela President Hugo Chávez's policies.
Palestine–Spain relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between these two countries. Palestine has an embassy in Madrid. Spain has a consulate general in East Jerusalem that serves the West Bank,Gaza and Jerusalem. Spain recognised the state of Palestine on 28 May 2024.
The Tiféret Israel Synagogue attack was an attack on Caracas,Venezuela's oldest synagogue that took place on the night of 31 January 2009,during Shabbat. The attack occurred amid a rise in tensions prompted by the 2008–2009 Gaza War,after Venezuela severed diplomatic relations with Israel and Israel responded by expelling Venezuelan officials from the country.
