Delcy Rodríguez names Oliver Blanco foreign minister and sends Félix Plasencia to recover gold in London

A new foreign minister

Acting president Delcy Rodríguez announced in a televised speech on Thursday, 29 October, that Oliver Blanco will replace Félix Plasencia as foreign minister. Blanco had been vice minister for Europe and North America since February, a post that gave him special responsibility for those regions. Plasencia moves to the presidency, where he becomes director of international affairs. EL PAÍS describes Blanco as a 35-year-old political scientist with a degree in international studies, who completed a master's in government and public policy only days before the appointment, and whose diplomatic career began only months ago. Rodríguez presented the change as a way to strengthen her team.

“I have decided to appoint Oliver Blanco as foreign minister of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”

The gold in London

Rodríguez sent Plasencia to the United Kingdom immediately, with the task of recovering Venezuela's gold. She said the gold belongs to Venezuelans, a claim she had already made on Wednesday, 28 October, when she demanded the return of the reserves from the Bank of England. Europa Press and ANSA put the bullion at about 2,000 million euros, while EL PAÍS cites 4,000 million dollars in 31 tonnes, so the valuations differ between outlets. The Bank of England holds the gold because the United Kingdom refused to recognize Nicolás Maduro's 2018 re-election, and El Mundo dates the retention to 2019. Europa Press reports the gold has been frozen there for more than six years.

Blanco's path to the post

Rodríguez hoped the reshaped team would keep advancing the changes and the country's international recovery. Blanco served as an aide to Henry Ramos Allup, the veteran leader of Acción Democrática, when Ramos Allup presided over the National Assembly that the opposition won in 2015. El Mundo says Blanco belonged for years to Ramos Allup's closest team and that his closeness to Rodríguez was well known in Caracas political circles. EL PAÍS notes that Blanco joined the cabinet formed after a United States military attack removed Maduro and Cilia Flores from power. The same article calls his main asset that he does not belong to chavismo.

“I hope this strengthened team keeps moving forward with the changes and Venezuela's geopolitical recovery, in areas of cooperation and friendship with all countries.”

Timing and the Madrid summit

El Mundo frames the change as a surprise, because Plasencia is a Spanish-Venezuelan diplomat who was close to the acting president. The article notes the announcement came six days before the Ibero-American Summit begins in Madrid. According to El Mundo, Rodríguez had demanded hours earlier that her foreign minister resume efforts to recover the gold. EL PAÍS adds that Plasencia and Rodríguez had served together at the Venezuelan embassy in London in the 1990s, before the chavista period. Plasencia was also one of the passengers on the January 2020 flight to Madrid that gave rise to the 'Delcygate' affair, according to El Mundo.