The Colombian government on Thursday made an official offer to sell electricity to Venezuela, following complaints from the socialist nation that Colombia’s previous offer via the press was politically motivated. Venezuela is considering the offer.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro announced that his government had received the offer and said he hoped it was not a “political strategy.”
Maduro said Venezuela’s Electrical Energy Minister Ali Rodriguez is studying the offer.
Rodriguez said Wednesday he thought it strange that Colombia made their original offer via media sources, rather than through official diplomatic routes.
“It removes genuineness from the offer,” he told reporters.
Venezuela’s vice president on Monday rejected Colombia’s offer to help the socialist nation’s “electricity emergency” by selling it extra power because “there was no proper offer” and said that if there were “yes, we would consider it.”
Diplomatic relations between Colombia and Venezuela are currently frozen after Colombia signed an agreement with the U.S. that allows the Americans to use military bases and civilian airports for counternarcotics and counterterrorism missions.