CNN on Venezuela

CNN’s Stefano Pozzebon writes:

It is less than two months since US special forces captured Venezuela’s longtime authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro during a nighttime raid in Caracas, yet it is hard to overstate how different the South American country now feels.

There’s a new buzz, an optimism that, to be frank, I have never seen before.

I moved to Caracas in 2016.

So the author actually lives in the country.

Last week, one of the most surreal moments I witnessed took place not in Caracas, but in a Chevron-run oil field in the middle of nowhere called Petroindependencia1.

CNN was one of three international outlets invited to tag along, as Rodriguez chaperoned Wright around her country to showcase the potential of what are thought to be the largest oil reserves in the world.

The moment seemed straightforward: two leaders visiting an industrial complex, shaking hands, smiling for the camera and making a nondescript speech or two.

What I had not expected to see was Rodriguez and Wright traveling in the same vehicle with minimal staff, Rodriguez amicably switching from English to Spanish to make sure the secretary was comfortable, and the pair discussing the finer technical details of how oil wells work (crude de-emulsification processes, anyone?)

So after 27 years of hostility, you have the two Governments working together cordially at the highest levels.

Similar caution was palpable among several diplomats I spoke to. The consensus, at least among the international community, is that Venezuela is taking the first small steps toward democracy but that it should not rush ahead. …

Nobody in Caracas is fooling themselves: the country is on its knees, and a lot of work is required before Venezuela can be great again, but even the harshest critics must acknowledge the enthusiasm.

Perhaps, the most surreal conversation I had was not hearing a Chavistapresident singing capitalism’s praise, or friends who have been out of the country for eight years finally looking for a flight to Caracas; but a European diplomat who, after a long pause, told me: “At least for now, we’ve got to admit that Trump got this one right.”

So far, so good.

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