LatinNews Daily - 24 September 2024

*Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro has met with directors from the Spanish energy firm Repsol to “advance with new agreements”, according to a presidential statement. Maduro met with Repsol’s regional executive director for Europe, Africa, Asia, Brazil & Venezuela, José Carlos de Vicente Bravo, and the director of the company’s Venezuelan branch, Luis Antonio García Sánchez. The meeting was also attended by Venezuela’s vice president and economy minister, Delcy Rodríguez, and Héctor Obregón, the president of state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa). Few details were made public about the meeting, although the Venezuelan government statement said that it reflected continued investor interest by Repsol and other companies. The meeting takes place amid tensions between Spain and Venezuela after the Spanish congress voted to recognise exiled opposition candidate Edmundo González as Venezuela’s president following the disputed 28 July election, and Spain’s defence minister, Margarita Robles, described the Maduro administration as a “dictatorship”.