The dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, presented this Wednesday, during a visit to Ankara, his country as a gateway for investment and tourism from Turkey.
“It’s time for Turkish investors in Venezuela to reach out to tourism, mining, industry, logistics, banking, oil, gas, gold, coal,” Maduro declared after a meeting with Turkish President Recep. Tayyip Erdogan.
Maduro added that Turkish investors in his country will have “all guarantees” for “a process of expansion in the relationship between the two countries”.
The Venezuelan dictator made these statements at a joint press conference with Erdogan after a closed-door meeting and a signing ceremony for three agreements, concerning agriculture, tourism and financial relations.
Shortly before his meeting with Erdogan, Maduro had conveyed the same message in an interview with the official Turkish news agency “Anadolu”.
“I can say that Venezuela is the best guarantee that Turkish businessmen can have to make their investments in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Maduro.
“Venezuela can be the port of arrival for all products of large industry and large production from Turkey to Latin America and the Caribbean. We give all legal guarantees to Turkish investors so that they can present their work”, he reiterated.
For his part, in today’s press conference, Erdogan emphasized that the volume of Turkish-Venezuelan bilateral trade, which in 2019 was only about US$150 million, last year exceeded US$850 million, which is why the Turkish president predicted which in the current year will reach US$ 1 billion.
In addition, Caracas is one of the few cities in Latin America that has a regular connection of seven flights a week with Istanbul, thanks to the Turkish flag carrier Turkish Airlines, according to the Turkish president.
Erdogan, accused by the Turkish opposition of becoming increasingly authoritarian, has promised to reciprocate Maduro’s visit to Ankara with a trip to Caracas next July.
The Turkish president’s last visit to Venezuela took place in December 2018, while Maduro had previously traveled to Turkey in July of that year.
Turkey and Venezuela maintain good relations and the Erdogan government firmly defends the legitimacy of Maduro at the head of the Venezuelan Executive against the claim of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who tried to overthrow the dictatorship in 2019.
Ankara is the first leg of what Maduro has described as a “Eurasian tour”, although he has yet to reveal the trip’s future stops.
The expectation is that this trip will last more than five days, since yesterday it was authorized by the Venezuelan National Assembly, a necessary measure for a president to leave the country for longer.
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