John Kerry Shares a Laugh with Maduro at U.N. Climate Conference

P residential climate envoy John Kerry shared a laugh and handshakes with Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro today on the sidelines of the annual COP27 U.N. climate conference taking place in Egypt, a video of the brief encounter showed. The encounter is reminiscent of last year’s U.N. gathering, during which Kerry had embraced yet another regime implicated in widespread human-rights abuses.

The Associated Press clip depicts Maduro and Kerry shaking hands, then holding a brief conversation in which they chuckle and smile. Kerry seems to wag his finger at Maduro, then rub his fingers together in what appears to be a playful “shame on you” gesture.

The State Department was quick to downplay the incident on Tuesday afternoon. Spokesman Ned Price told reporters that the conversation was not planned and that the two figures did not discuss anything of substance. Still, it indicates the direction in which the administration might be headed on this front.

The 20-second conversation comes amid a broader Biden-administration effort to bring about a détente with the Maduro regime, lifting Trump-era sanctions imposed over human-rights and other concerns, which many observers say might lead to a reversal of the ban on oil imports from the Latin American country.

Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the administration is eyeing a significant reversal of sanctions on the regime, paving the way for Chevron to resume operating in Venezuela. As part of a potential deal, Caracas would resume talks with Venezuela’s pro-democracy opposition movement “in good faith.” According to the paper, the deal could include the release of millions of dollars in funds currently unavailable to the Venezuelan government.

The U.S. under Biden continues to recognize exiled opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s rightful president. During a meeting with an opposition group last month, deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman expressed her support for a “return to negotiations with the Maduro regime” through talks that have taken place in Mexico City.

High oil prices and an influx of Venezuelan migrants to the U.S. southern border, however, might be the reasons the administration is easing its stance toward Maduro. The White House’s softening of the Trump-era position on the regime has also accompanied negotiations regarding U.S. hostages held by the Venezuelan government. In early October, Biden announced the return of seven individuals wrongfully detained by the regime.

President Biden has regularly framed his foreign-policy outlook in terms of an ultimate competition between democracy and authoritarianism in this century. This pivot on Venezuela throws the sincerity of that approach into question. In addition, Maduro has maintained close relations with U.S. adversaries such as Iran and Russia.

In 2016, Kerry, then serving as secretary of state, met Maduro in Colombia, to the backdrop of increasing unrest in Venezuela. Maduro, who was three years into his presidency following an election that saw claims of vote-rigging, bragged about the meeting, claiming that the American official said he might visit Venezuela:

And I hope that very soon, John Kerry will also come to Venezuela. I said, ‘When will you come to Venezuela to visit us?’. And he said, ‘If things are progressing well, I’ll go to Venezuela’. I said, ‘You will be welcome in Venezuela, John Kerry’. And so we should all know that progress is possible.

This is not the first time that Kerry, in his current role, has come under scrutiny for cozying up to brutal dictatorships at the U.N.’s annual climate conference. During last year’s gathering in Glasgow, Kerry inked a framework agreement with his Chinese counterpart, informing reporters that Beijing’s atrocities against Uyghurs are “not my lane.” These talks with the Chinese fell apart after Beijing withdrew from them in retaliation against Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent trip to Taiwan. Kerry has held out hope that China will return to the negotiating table, even though Chinese envoy Xie Zhenhua is not returning his emails.

Kerry’s chumminess with Maduro is also liable to cause a major headache for the administration, especially during midterm elections in which Democrats are generally expected to lose their majority in at least one chamber of Congress. On Twitter today, Senator Rick Scott, the chairman of the GOP’s Senate campaign arm, called the interaction “disgusting,” adding that it “signals complete disregard for the evils committed by [Maduro’s] regime.”

Any political fallout from this, however, might not make Kerry’s own life too difficult, as he reportedly eyes an exit after the midterms, partly to avoid being subpoenaed by Congressional Republican investigators. (Kerry’s office has denied that he has plans to step down.)