France–Venezuela relations
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France–Venezuela relations are foreign relations between France and Venezuela. France has an embassy in Caracas and Venezuela has an embassy in Paris.
History
![](../I/m/Venezuelan_embassy_in_Paris.jpg)
During the 1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempts, the French Government "immediately signalled its refusal to accept a breakdown in institutional legitimacy.[1]
State visits
President Hugo Chávez met French President Jacques Chirac on three occasions in October 2002, March 2005 and October 2005.[1][2]
In 2007, Chávez visited French President Nicolas Sarkozy to discuss the situation of hostage Ingrid Betancourt held in Colombia.[3][4]
In September 2008, Chávez again visited Sarkozy and Chávez said he sought aid from "friendly" countries like France, in exchange for "Venezuelan energy".[5]
Agreements
In October 2008, the Venezuelan and French Foreign Ministers signed 10 agreements on cooperation including bilateral cooperation on energy, military, telecommunications, tourism and fight against drug trafficking.[6]
French investment
In 2000, French company Pechiney signed an agreement with the Venezuela government to invest USD 260 million over three years to expand state-owned bauxite and alumina.[7]
As of 2005, French oil company Total SA was the largest foreign investor in Venezuela.[8] In 2005, Total commenced negotiations with the Venezuelan Government over a possible USD 5 billion project to develop heavy oil in eastern Venezuela.[9] In April 2006, the Venezuelan government seized control of foreign owned oil fields including those operated by Total.[10]
Relation with Carlos the Jackal
The president Hugo Chávez is known to have had a sporadic correspondence with convicted terrorist Carlos the Jackal from the latter's prison cell in France. Chávez replied, with a letter in which he addresses Carlos as a "distinguished compatriot".[11][12][13] On June 1, 2006, Chávez referred to him as his "good friend" during a meeting of OPEC countries held in Caracas.[14]
On 20 November 2009, Chávez publicly defended Carlos, saying that "he is wrongly considered to be a bad guy and is to be praised as a key revolutionary fighter, instead."[15]
France summoned the Venezuelan ambassador and demanded an explanation. Chávez, however, declined to retract his comments.[16]
See also
Notes and references
- 1 2 http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files_156/venezuela_719/index.html
- ↑ http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-68744859.html
- ↑ "Chavez visit to France fuels hope about hostage". USA Today. 2007-11-20. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
- ↑ Barchfield, Jenny. "Chavez Visits Paris for Hostage Talks". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
- ↑ "Chavez backs Sarkozy's call for financial summit". The Times Of India. Archived from the original on November 4, 2008.
- ↑ http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/03/content_10144550.htm
- ↑ . 2000-12-06 http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=BBAB&d_place=BBAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F97E034998B8C03&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Missing or empty
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(help) - ↑ "Total seeks to resolve differences with Venezuela's Chavez over oil contracts". Forbes. 2005-10-20.
- ↑ Luhnow, David; Millard, Peter (2005-02-14). "Venezuelan Oil Deals Ease Tensions". The Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ "Venezuela's oil field seizures from European companies causes jitters about country's outlook". The America's Intelligence Wire. 2006-04-04.
- ↑ Carta de Hugo Chávez a Ilich Ramírez Sánchez alias «El Chacal» Archived 2009-05-04 at the Wayback Machine..
- ↑ Blanco y Negro - secundaria Archived 2009-09-22 at the Wayback Machine..
- ↑ La familia de Carlos ``El Chacal'' espera más gestos de Chávez.
- ↑ Nacional y Política - eluniversal.com.
- ↑ "Venezuela's Hugo Chavez defends 'Carlos the Jackal",] BBC News, 21 November 2009
- ↑ "Carlos the Jackal was 'revolutionary': Chavez". Agence France-Presse. 28 November 2009.