Handout picture released by the Venezuelan Presidency showing Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro (C), next to his wife Cilia Flores (L), being welcomed by Qatari Foreign Minister Sultan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi, in Doha, Qatar on June 14, 2022. AFP
DOHA — Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro arrived in Qatar on Tuesday for a surprise visit to the energy-rich Gulf state that has in the past helped his country’s beleaguered economy.
Maduro was shown by the official Qatar News Agency being welcomed at Doha’s international airport by Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, the minister of state for foreign affairs.
Diplomatic sources said the Venezuelan leader, who is on a Middle East tour that represents a rare foray onto the international stage, would be in Qatar for two days.
Maduro was in Iran at the weekend, and signed a 20-year-cooperation agreement with the Islamic republic. He was in Kuwait on Monday and had earlier been in Algeria and Turkey.
Alongside Russia, China, Cuba and Turkey, Iran is one of Venezuela’s main allies. And like Venezuela, it is subject to tough US sanctions.
Qatar is a major US ally. But in 2014 Maduro said that Qatari banks were helping with substantial loans as his South American nation, which depends on oil for revenues, went into economic free-fall.
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