Interview of Christopher Alberto Martinez Berrotera, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to Azerbaijan, to APA

- Mr. Ambassador, I would like to know about the current situation and level of development of bilateral relations.

- I think the current relations between Venezuela and Azerbaijan are very positive.

Because these relations are brotherhood and the relations that unite two great nations.

As an example of this, our President Nicolás Maduro Moros visited Azerbaijan in June.

This was Nicolas Maduro's 3rd official visit to Azerbaijan.

A meeting between the two presidents was held as part of the visit.

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On June 17, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, met with the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, who is on a business trip to our country, in a videoconference format. The reason for holding the meeting in a videoconference format was the positive result of the COVID-19 test in the members of the Venezuelan delegation -

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During that meeting, talks were held on the development of bilateral relations between the states.

Also, negotiations were held on the signing of agreements for the development of our bilateral relations.

In particular, I want to draw attention to the fields of education, transport, culture, tourism, science and technology, as well as communication and medicine.

Of course, the presidents had discussions on other topics, and I mentioned only some of them.

- What works have been done in the direction of developing inter-country relations since your appointment to Azerbaijan?

- I came to Azerbaijan in January 2019.

Since my arrival, we have had very extensive relations with the government of Azerbaijan, and this was through the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

As an example, I can show cultural exchanges and events between our countries.

We are also working on future exchanges in the field of education, economy and tourism.

- Azerbaijan took over the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement from Venezuela.

How do you evaluate Azerbaijan's chairmanship of the mentioned organization?

- The chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement was handed over to Azerbaijan during the second official visit of our President Nicolas Maduro to Azerbaijan in October 2019.

Undoubtedly, each country strives to make major contributions to the strengthening of the Non-Aligned Movement during its interim chairmanship.

We highly appreciate Azerbaijan's initiatives in the new spheres of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Among the numerous initiatives, I would like to mention two in particular.

First of all, there is the question of establishing a Parliamentary Network within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Which is precisely Azerbaijan's initiative.

The second is the establishment of the Youth Network of the Non-Aligned Movement.

I would also like to mention the role of Venezuelan youth in the creation of the Youth Network of the Non-Aligned Movement.

These initiatives further strengthen this movement and increase its reputation in the world.

And, of course, Venezuela highly appreciates the work done by Azerbaijan during the interim chairmanship as a member of the Troika in the Non-Aligned Movement.

- Are mutual visits of the officials of the two countries expected in general and in the near future?

- In general, relations between Azerbaijan and Venezuela are very dynamic.

We often meet at many events worldwide.

And, of course, these meetings are both multilateral and bilateral.

For example, several meetings of foreign ministers of our countries took place this year.

These meetings took place during multilateral events, and the ministers used it to discuss bilateral relations.

The last of these meetings took place within the framework of the UN General Assembly.

Of course, on the basis of all these measures, Azerbaijani officials are also expected to visit Venezuela.

And now we are working on the realization of the second political consultation.

Also, we are discussing with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan the date when these political consultations will be held in Venezuela.

Our governments are constantly negotiating on the exchange of ideas.

In June, the second deputy speaker of the National Assembly of Venezuela visited Azerbaijan and held many meetings with the Azerbaijani government.

At the same time, the chairman of the Venezuelan National Institute also visited Azerbaijan.

He also participated in the Youth Network of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Azerbaijan.

Bilateral visits between our governments are certainly evolving and dynamic.

- What are the priority areas in the cooperation between our countries?

- As our presidents said, we have agreed to cooperate in various spheres.

First, it is cooperation in the field of education.

This cooperation consists of student exchange between Venezuelan and Azerbaijani higher schools, creation of scholarship programs for Venezuelan and Azerbaijani students.

We are currently working on a memorandum of understanding in the field of higher education.

We have already received the consent of the Azerbaijani side to sign the memorandum of understanding, and we are waiting for the consent of the Venezuelan side.

The second sphere is the tourism sector, which the presidents also emphasized and is very important.

Because through tourism, we don't just get to know our countries, we get to know each other better by knowing the common features of our peoples.

And at the same time, we are working on the development of a memorandum of understanding in the field of tourism.

One of the important areas is also the trade area.

The main thing here is the development of our trade relations and the establishment of relations between our businessmen.

Also, all the work done should be the basis of diversification of the economies of both countries.

The goal here is to reduce the dependence of countries on oil revenues.

One of the next important areas is the energy sphere.

I want to note that Venezuela and Azerbaijan are producers of energy resources.

In this sense, not only economic exchange, but also technological exchange was discussed.

Negotiations are being conducted between the businessmen of both countries to establish relations.

- What is the current situation in Venezuela?

- Venezuela has been attacked by big powers in recent years.

The main goal of those who organized these attacks was to disrupt political and internal stability in the country, as well as peaceful life.

Currently, about 900 mandatory bans are applied against our country.

These prohibitions are also known as sanctions around the world.

And these sanctions have a negative impact on the economy of our country.

This, of course, affects our people.

Sanctions do not allow Venezuelan products to be exported and sold abroad.

These sanctions prohibit the arrival of many foreign products to our country.

Those banned products are very necessary products for our citizens.

Among these products, there are also those necessary for our industry.

These sanctions also affect our country's assets abroad.

Venezuela's gold has been confiscated in British banks.

The confiscation of such assets has a negative impact on our economy.

Nevertheless, President Maduro approved the action plan.

According to this plan, economic and political stability is maintained in our country through the countries that are our friends and brothers.

I cannot say that these sanctions did not affect us, because that would be a lie, but our government is taking every step to keep our country standing.

- What steps does the Venezuelan government take to further improve the situation in the country?

- First of all, we inform the whole world about the unilateral sanctions applied against our country.

We are working on the diversification of our country's economy, we are looking for ways to do this.

Despite all these sanctions, we have already achieved diversification of the economy in our country.

Thanks to this, a large number of young businessmen appeared in Venezuela, who developed the economy.

Which is the factor that allowed our country to move forward.

- The US delegation visited your country in connection with the easing of sanctions imposed on Venezuela.

What steps have been taken to soften the sanctions?

- The situation remains as it is.

The dialogue between us and the US is not a sincere dialogue.

Personal interests are pursued during negotiations.

As President Nicolas Maduro has said, Venezuela will not bow to any sanctions.

We are a country of peace and we know that we can always get rid of the problem within the framework of dialogue.

But this dialogue must be a sincere dialogue and not an insincere dialogue that demands the change of the political regime in Venezuela.

No country should be superior, there should be equality and justice.

We expect sanctions to be lifted as a result of the dialogues.

There should be no conditions or obligations imposed on Venezuela by the United States.

Finally, I would like to add that mourning has been declared in Venezuela.

As a result of the rains, a huge disaster occurred on October 10.

The central zone of Venezuela is the most affected area.

That tragedy affected more than 90 Venezuelan families and killed 57 people.

The President gave an order to carry out the work related to this incident.

Relevant institutions and authorized persons are at the scene.

All possible steps are taken so that the victims can return to their previous normal life.