Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a meeting with Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Bárcena. Oct. 16, 2023. | Photo: X/@NicolasMaduro

Caracas, October 17 (RHC)-- The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, received this Monday the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Alicia Bárcena, at the Miraflores Palace, in Caracas, in order to strengthen diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Maduro said through his account on the social network X that he held "a fruitful meeting" with the Mexican foreign minister, in which both parties expressed their willingness to increase cooperation in key areas.  The president said that during the meeting they talked "about the progress achieved in the different areas of bilateral cooperation, always in search of the welfare of our peoples."

The meeting was attended by the First Lady, Cilia Flores, the Undersecretary for Latin America of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rander Peña and the Venezuelan Ambassador to Mexico, Francisco Arias Cárdenas.

The tweet reads: "I received at the Miraflores Presidential Palace the Foreign Minister of the United Mexican States, Alicia Bárcena, with whom I had a fruitful meeting. We discussed the progress made in the different areas of bilateral cooperation, always in pursuit of the welfare of our peoples."

The meeting between Maduro and Bárcena takes place one month after the exchange held at the Group of 77 (G77) plus China Summit, which took place in Cuba.  Alicia Bárcena arrived in Venezuela on Monday morning and previously held meetings with Vice Minister Peña and the country's Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez.

The head of the Mexican diplomacy expressed in her account in the social network X her satisfaction for the dialogue process to be resumed by the Government and the Venezuelan opposition.

"From Caracas with Delcy Rodríguez, we celebrate the resumption of the dialogue and negotiation process that was signed in Mexico and that will take place tomorrow in Barbados between the Government and the Unitary Platform with the presence of Mexico," said Bárcena. 

The Venezuelan government and the opposition announced on Monday in a statement their decision to "resume the dialogue and negotiation process, facilitated by Norway, with the objective of reaching a political agreement."

The United States will also participate, with an interest more linked to migration and the economy.