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# Venezuela Has Taken Its Energy Talks to Three CARICOM Capitals Since April. Guyana Sold None of Them Crude Last Year.
- URL: https://www.lacaribenanews.com/venezuela-rodriguez-caricom-visits-guyana-trade-2026/
- Published: 2026-09-13T12:45:56.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-13T12:45:58.000Z
- Description: Venezuela's Interim President Delcy Rodríguez signed ten documents with Suriname on 11 September after visiting Grenada and Barbados. Guyana's 2025 customs data show no crude exported to any CARICOM member, and its energy talks with Trinidad and Suriname have produced nothing signed.
- Author: Theon Alleyne
- Tags: Guyana, Venezuela, CARICOM, Oil and Gas, Trade

**Quick summary:** Venezuela's Interim President Delcy Rodríguez signed ten documents with Suriname in Paramaribo on 11 September, including oil and gas cooperation, after visits to Grenada and Barbados and a joint declaration with Barbados. Guyana's customs records show no crude exported to any Caribbean Community member in 2025.

By LCN Newsroom

On Friday, in the presidential palace in Paramaribo, Suriname and Venezuela signed ten documents in a single sitting.

There were two agreements, four letters of intent, three cooperation frameworks and a joint declaration. They covered fisheries, air links, agriculture, tourism, education and training in oil and gas through Venezuela's state petroleum research institute. President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons and Venezuela's Interim President, Delcy Rodríguez, signed the declaration themselves.

It was Rodríguez's third visit to a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) capital since April.

## How many leaders has Rodríguez met since January?

Eight, in person, on five of her six foreign trips and in Caracas.

Rodríguez was sworn in on 5 January, two days after United States forces captured Nicolás Maduro. The public record of Venezuela's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose releases are numbered in sequence and were read from her swearing-in to Friday, shows these meetings with heads of state or government.

| Date           | Leader                                                            | Where       |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- |
| 18 February    | Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister of Qatar | Caracas     |
| 9 April        | Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, Grenada                           | St George's |
| 24 April       | President Gustavo Petro, Colombia                                 | Caracas     |
| 26 to 27 April | President Jeffrey Bostic and Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Barbados | Bridgetown  |
| 4 June         | Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India                               | New Delhi   |
| 8 June         | President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Türkiye                           | Istanbul    |
| 24 August      | Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Barbados                              | Caracas     |
| 11 September   | President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, Suriname                     | Paramaribo  |

She also spoke by telephone with President Donald Trump in January, with Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum after Venezuela's earthquakes, and received a stream of United States cabinet officers. Energy Secretary Chris Wright was in Caracas on 2 September for the 25-year oil arrangement [this newspaper reported](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/venezuela-oil-deal-65-billion-barrels-pledged-to-us-caracas-2026/), whose text has not been published.

Her first foreign trip as interim president was to Grenada.

## What did the Caribbean visits produce?

A roadmap in Grenada, a joint declaration in Barbados and ten documents in Suriname.

In St George's on 9 April, the [Government of Grenada](https://nowgrenada.com/2026/04/official-visit-of-h-e-delcy-rodriquez/?ref=lacaribenanews.com) said the two sides discussed priority areas including energy. Its release records no signed instrument.

In Bridgetown on 27 April, Rodríguez met Mottley and [invited investment in Venezuelan oil and gas](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/apr/27/venezuelas-leader-visits-barbados-seeking-oil-gas-investments/?ref=lacaribenanews.com), the Associated Press reported. On 24 August Mottley was in Caracas, where the two governments [signed a joint declaration](https://www.infobae.com/america/agencias/2026/08/24/venezuela-y-barbados-firman-declaracion-conjunta-para-robustecer-cooperacion-bilateral/?ref=lacaribenanews.com) covering energy and hydrocarbons, food, education, tourism and air and sea links, and created their first Joint Commission, [Barbados Today reported](https://barbadostoday.bb/2026/08/25/barbados-venezuela-deepen-energy-trade-ties/?ref=lacaribenanews.com).

In Paramaribo on Friday, according to [the Government of Suriname](https://gov.sr/nieuwe-akkoorden-moeten-banden-tussen-suriname-en-venezuela-verder-versterken/?ref=lacaribenanews.com), Simons also raised an attachment on assets of Venezuela's state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, in Suriname, linked to the Petrocaribe compensation mechanism between the two countries. She said the court proceedings were continuing and no final judgment had been given. Simons described the relationship as resting on "mutual respect, sovereignty, territorial integrity and peaceful cooperation."

Suriname's Foreign Minister, Melvin Bouva, had visited Caracas in May.

## Where does Guyana's oil go?

Almost entirely outside the Caribbean.

Guyana exported US$20.09 billion of goods in 2025, according to the [Bureau of Statistics](https://statisticsguyana.gov.gy/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Analysis-of-External-Trade-January-to-December-2025-1.pdf?ref=lacaribenanews.com), matching the figures Guyana reports to the United Nations Comtrade database. Crude oil was US$17.75 billion of it, or 88.3 per cent.

None of that crude was declared to a CARICOM member state. Declared destinations included the United States, Panama, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom and China. In 2024, Guyana's customs records had declared crude cargoes to Barbados, Saint Lucia and the Bahamas.

With its closest Caribbean neighbours, Guyana is a buyer rather than a seller.

| Partner             | Guyana's exports, 2025 | Guyana's imports, 2025 | Of which fuels |
| ------------------- | ---------------------- | ---------------------- | -------------- |
| Trinidad and Tobago | US$53.2m               | US$1,225.7m            | US$947.9m      |
| Suriname            | US$27.9m               | US$185.3m              | US$148.6m      |
| Jamaica             | US$43.5m               | US$22.8m               | US$1.0m        |
| Barbados            | US$10.2m               | US$15.6m               | US$1.3m        |
| Grenada             | US$5.1m                | US$0.8m                | nil            |
| Dominican Republic  | US$5.5m                | US$61.6m               | nil            |

\*Source: Guyana customs data as reported to UN Comtrade, matching the Bureau of Statistics tables. The Bureau's own table gives imports from Trinidad and Tobago as US$1,224.4m and from Suriname as US$183.2m.\*

Every Caribbean partner in that table together took less than one per cent of Guyana's exports.

## What has Guyana signed with its neighbours this year?

Two sets of agreements, and two sets of talks that have not produced one.

On 14 May, during a visit to Georgetown by President Luis Abinader, the Dominican Republic's state refiner signed a contract for a 10 per cent stake in Guyana's Berbice Block "without requiring an upfront capital investment", with access to any oil or gas found "under preferential terms", [Kaieteur News reported](https://kaieteurnewsonline.com/2026/05/15/dominican-republic-signs-contract-for-10-stake-in-berbice-block/?ref=lacaribenanews.com). The Dominican Republic is not a CARICOM member.

On 26 June, during an official visit by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Guyana and Jamaica [signed four instruments](https://newsroom.gy/2026/06/26/guyana-jamaica-sign-four-agreements-to-deepen-cooperation-in-energy-security-finance/?ref=lacaribenanews.com): a protocol amending their 1995 cooperation agreement to add areas including energy, and memoranda on agriculture, defence and security, and financial services. An energy working group was announced.

Prime Minister Mottley was in Georgetown for Independence on 25 May, when travel between Barbados and Guyana on national identification cards was announced from 1 July.

With Trinidad and Tobago, President Irfaan Ali agreed an agenda including "energy integration" and a joint working group in Port of Spain on 10 April. No instrument was signed, and Trinidad's request for Guyanese hydrocarbons, [which this newspaper has followed since 2024](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/guyana-trinidad-gas-talks-no-agreement-2026/), remains without an agreement.

With Suriname, a joint technical team on pooling gas for a second gas-to-energy project in Berbice was announced in February, with a memorandum of understanding that officials were "currently drafting". In May, Ali said it was still in discussion. On 30 June Suriname's Public Works Minister, Stephen Tsang, told the National Assembly that Suriname would finance the Corentyne River bridge alone: "it must and will be a Surinamese bridge." Foreign Minister Hugh Todd said on 4 July that Guyana had never been informed through the established bilateral mechanisms.

On the public record this newspaper can find, no leader-level visit between Guyana and Grenada took place in the same period.

## Where does the region stand on Essequibo?

Formally, with Guyana.

CARICOM Heads of Government restated their "unequivocal and unwavering support" for Guyana's sovereignty and territorial integrity at their February meeting in St Kitts, and again at their [51st Regular Meeting in Saint Lucia](https://caricom.org/communique-fifty-first-regular-meeting-of-the-conference-of-heads-of-government-of-the-caribbean-community-caricom-saint-lucia/?ref=lacaribenanews.com) in July, where they also recorded concern that Venezuela's territory was being used to attack Guyanese security personnel. Mottley, Mitchell, Simons and Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar were among the heads present.

In Grenada and Barbados, Rodríguez wore a brooch in the shape of a map of Venezuela that includes Essequibo. On 28 April President Ali [wrote to the CARICOM Chairman](https://newsroom.gy/2026/04/28/president-ali-writes-caricom-chairman-about-rodriguezs-false-essequibo-brooch/?ref=lacaribenanews.com), St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew. Guyana, he wrote, "fully respects the sovereign right of CARICOM Member States to conduct bilateral relations with all partners, including the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela." But the use of CARICOM engagements to promote a territorial claim against a member state "risks being interpreted as acquiescence or tolerance."

"CARICOM's principled support for Guyana must be reflected not only in declarations," the President wrote, "but also in the context and conduct of official engagements."

A CARICOM statement the same day said Community platforms should not be used to advance or appear to legitimise Venezuela's claim, and affirmed each member state's sovereign right to conduct its own bilateral relations.

Two days later, the Jamaica Gleaner [wrote in an editorial](https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/commentary/20260430/editorial-caricom-and-caracas?ref=lacaribenanews.com) that Rodríguez's visits to St George's and Bridgetown "were clearly aimed at bolstering her legitimacy, both at home and in the region, by signalling that Venezuela is not without friends in the Caribbean," and that her outreach "has fuelled hopes among some regional leaders for the return of a Petrocaribe-style arrangement." It noted that a CARICOM energy policy was drafted in 2013 and has not been finalised.

At the International Court of Justice on 11 May, Rodríguez told the court that Venezuela has never consented to it deciding the controversy. The court is deliberating.

No CARICOM government has declined to meet her. Persad-Bissessar has said she hopes to meet Rodríguez in New York [later this month](https://www.cnc3.co.tt/i-love-delcy-pm-holds-no-ill-will-towards-acting-venezuelan-president-hoping-to-meet-with-her-in-new-york-later-this-month/?ref=lacaribenanews.com), at the United Nations General Assembly.

## How do the two records compare, country by country?

| Country             | Rodríguez, 2026                                                                     | Guyana, 2026                                                                          | Guyana's trade, 2025                  |
| ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Suriname            | Foreign minister in Caracas, May. State visit and ten documents, 11 September       | Virtual leaders' meeting, May. Gas memorandum in draft since February. Bridge dispute | Exports US$27.9m, imports US$185.3m   |
| Barbados            | Visit to Bridgetown, April. Joint declaration and Joint Commission, Caracas, August | Mottley in Georgetown, May. National ID travel from July                              | Exports US$10.2m, imports US$15.6m    |
| Grenada             | Official visit, April                                                               | No leader-level visit found                                                           | Exports US$5.1m, imports US$0.8m      |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Foreign minister level. Prime minister hopes to meet her in September               | Ali in Port of Spain, April. Energy agenda, nothing signed                            | Exports US$53.2m, imports US$1,225.7m |
| Jamaica             | No contact found                                                                    | Holness in Georgetown, June. Four instruments                                         | Exports US$43.5m, imports US$22.8m    |

The companies cleared to work Venezuela's own oil are named in a licence issued in Washington, [as this newspaper reported](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/venezuela-oil-licences-gl50c-celac-guyana-2026/). The documents it signed in Paramaribo covered training, air links, fisheries, agriculture and tourism.

The gas memorandum Guyana and Suriname announced in February was still being drafted in May. On the public record this newspaper can find, it has not been signed.

Venezuela and Suriname signed ten documents in one sitting on Friday.

### What the title card shows

- **11 September 2026, Paramaribo:** Venezuela and Suriname sign ten documents (two agreements, four letters of intent, three cooperation frameworks, one joint declaration), including oil and gas training. Source: Government of Suriname; Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- **Rodríguez's in-person meetings with heads of state or government since 5 January 2026:** Qatar (18 Feb), Grenada (9 Apr), Colombia (24 Apr), Barbados (27 Apr and 24 Aug), India (4 Jun), Türkiye (8 Jun), Suriname (11 Sept). Source: Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs releases.
- **Guyana 2025:** exports **US$20.09bn**, crude **US$17.75bn (88.3%)**, crude declared to CARICOM members **nil**. Source: Bureau of Statistics; UN Comtrade.
- **Guyana imports 2025:** from Trinidad and Tobago **US$1,225.7m** (fuels US$947.9m); from Suriname **US$185.3m** (fuels US$148.6m). Source: UN Comtrade, Guyana as reporter.
- **Guyana's 2026 agreements with neighbours:** Dominican Republic Berbice Block contract (14 May); Jamaica four instruments (26 June). Trinidad and Tobago energy agenda (10 April) and Suriname gas memorandum (drafting since February): nothing signed.

## Frequently Asked Questions

What did Venezuela and Suriname sign on 11 September 2026?

Ten documents: agreements on fisheries and aquaculture and on air connectivity, four letters of intent, three cooperation frameworks and a joint declaration signed by Presidents Jennifer Geerlings-Simons and Delcy Rodríguez. Areas included agriculture, tourism, education and training in oil and gas.

Which CARICOM countries has Delcy Rodríguez visited?

Grenada on 9 April, Barbados on 26 and 27 April, and Suriname on 11 September 2026\. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley also visited Caracas on 24 August, when the two governments signed a joint declaration.

Does Guyana sell oil to CARICOM countries?

Guyana's customs data show no crude exported to any CARICOM member in 2025\. Its crude went mainly to the United States, Panama, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom and China. In 2024, cargoes had been declared to Barbados, Saint Lucia and the Bahamas.

What energy agreements has Guyana signed in the region in 2026?

A contract giving the Dominican Republic's state refiner a 10 per cent stake in the Berbice Block, signed in May, and a protocol with Jamaica adding energy to a 1995 cooperation agreement, signed in June. Talks with Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname have not yet produced a signed energy instrument.

Does CARICOM support Guyana on Essequibo?

Yes. CARICOM Heads of Government restated their unequivocal support for Guyana's sovereignty and territorial integrity in February and July 2026, while affirming that each member state conducts its own bilateral relations.

\*Opinion: [Support on Essequibo Is the Floor. The Relationship With the Region Still Has to Be Built.](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/opinion-essequibo-support-floor-not-relationship-2026/)\*