Boris Johnson secretly flew to Venezuela last month for unofficial talks with its autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro, it can be revealed.
The former prime minister took a private jet from a family holiday in the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean country, to a location outside of Caracas, where he spent less than 24 hours.
Johnson spoke to Maduro about the war in Ukraine amid concern in western diplomatic and intelligence circles that the oil-rich socialist republic could supply weapons or other military support to Russia, a close ally. Since leaving Downing Street he has championed President Zelensky on the world stage.
He also discussed the conditions for normalising relations with the UK, which does not accept the legitimacy of Maduro’s administration.
Sources say these included the holding of free and fair presidential elections this year and the de-escalation of tensions with Guyana, a former British colony whose oil and mineral-rich Essequibo region, covering two thirds of its territory, is claimed by Venezuela. Last month the Royal Navy dispatched a patrol ship to the region, prompting Maduro to lash out at the “act of hostile provocation”.
The talks are highly unusual given the state of bilateral relations and wider uncertainty about western relations with Venezuela, which has the world’s largest oil reserves and has been a steadfast supporter of President Putin.
As recently as October, the Biden administration agreed to ease crippling Trump-era oil and gas sanctions in return for democratic reform and the release of political prisoners. The deal has since unravelled, with Maduro banning an opposition leader and arresting several dozen democratic activists.
Johnson’s office said Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, the foreign secretary, was aware of the visit. His spokesman added that Johnson spoke to Colin Dick, who is the chargé d’affaires in Caracas — the most senior British diplomat in the country — seeking his reflections on what would be useful to say.
A Foreign Office source said Johnson notified Cameron of the summit en route, saying: “It was a private visit but Boris texted the foreign secretary on the way.” As it was not an official discussion, permission was neither required nor sought.
The fact Cameron knew about the trip just before it happened will fuel questions about who proposed and paid for the visit. It will also lead to scrutiny of whether the foreign secretary should have been granted more information in advance.
Johnson, 59, did not respond to queries about who instigated the talks, or why. Sources said he was acting as a “back channel” for the UK and the West more generally given the dire state of relations with a strategically significant country. They speculated that the genesis of the meeting was probably Johnson’s role championing Zelensky’s government and raising money for Ukraine. His spokesman said his air travel was privately funded and that neither the British nor Venezuelan governments contributed to the cost.
Those close to the former-PM say he still regards Maduro as a human rights-abusing dictator and that the conversation was “one-way traffic” as he delivered a robust set of messages.
Useful backchannel?
The disclosures provide a glimpse into Johnson’s post-premiership career drumming up support for Ukraine, which increasingly appears to have the support of Rishi Sunak — and brings the prime minister the advantage of limiting his predecessor’s engagement in domestic politics.
Days after returning to the Dominican Republic, Johnson travelled to Kyiv, meeting President Zelensky on the second anniversary of Russia’s full invasion. He recently urged Trump not to abandon Ukraine if he is re-elected, and has been lobbying heads of state in “swing vote” countries in Africa and South America to adopt a similar stance.
Johnson’s spokesman said: “Boris Johnson met Venezuelan government officials with active support from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the knowledge of the foreign secretary, in order to emphasise the need for Venezuela to embrace a proper democratic process.
“He repeatedly made clear there can be no hope of normalisation in relations until Venezuela fully embraces democracy and respects the territorial integrity of its neighbours. He also set out the case for the cause of Ukrainian victory to the government of Venezuela.”
Before the trip, Johnson stayed with his family at the villa of Sam Blyth, a multimillionaire Canadian businessman and distant cousin through his father, Stanley. Blyth became the subject of controversy last year when The Sunday Times revealed that he had guaranteed a loan of up to £800,000 to fund Johnson’s lifestyle in office while he was in contention for a public role at the British Council. The deal led to the resignation of their mutual friend Richard Sharp, who did not declare his role in brokering the arrangement when he applied for the job of BBC chairman.
Johnson, who faced controversy as foreign secretary for meeting a Russian oligarch without informing officials, rejected any suggestion he was freelancing diplomatically by travelling to Caracas. The local charge d’affairs is said to have communicated to him that the meeting was useful.
What did Cameron know?
The suggestion that the foreign secretary was aware of the visit will raise eyebrows in Westminster. Cameron and Johnson have known each other since their schooling at Eton and have had a testy, often competitive relationship, culminating in the 2016 Brexit referendum in which they campaigned for opposing sides. The result — in effect forcing Cameron from office — led to their estrangement.
The visit also underscores the potential value to Cameron of having a semi-official representative to relay messages to Maduro, 61. Although the UK has an embassy in Caracas, ties have been downgraded, with no permanent ambassador.
In May 2018, following elections which were boycotted by the opposition and dismissed as a sham, Johnson warned as foreign secretary: “We may have to tighten the economic screw on Venezuela.”
In January last year the Foreign Office said: “The UK continues not to accept the legitimacy of the administration put in place by Nicolás Maduro.” It has since thrown its weight behind the international effort for open elections to be held this summer but stopped short of issuing definitive statements on the legitimacy or not of Maduro’s administration.
The latest flare in relations came in December, when Maduro held a referendum on Essequibo. He had threatened to annex the territory using his army — which numbers 351,000 compared with Guyana’s 4,070 active personnel — and granted licences to Venezuelan companies to explore oil in the area. The move prompted Britain to send HMS Trent to the coast of Guyana, a former colony which is South America’s only English-speaking country and is a member of the Commonwealth.
At the time, Cameron said Britain would “continue to work with partners in the region to ensure the territorial integrity of Guyana is upheld and prevent escalation”. Yván Gil, Venezuela’s foreign minister, said in response: “The former invading and enslaving empire, which illegally occupied the territory of [Essequibo] and acted in an skilful and sneaky manner against the interests of Venezuela, insists on intervening in a territorial controversy that they themselves generated.”
Extrajudicial killings and backing for Putin
Maduro has repeatedly expressed support for Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, blaming the war on Nato. Last month Sergey Lavrov, Putin’s foreign minister, visited Venezuela, where he vowed to expand “co-operation in oil production, gas field development, agriculture, medicine and pharmaceuticals”. He visited the previous year, urging Caracas to “join forces” against the “blackmail” of western sanctions.
A former bus driver and trade union leader, Maduro succeeded Hugo Chávez in 2013 and has survived waves of protest to tighten his grip on power. He is thought to have presided over the extrajudicial killing of more than 20,000 people and humanitarian and political crises which have prompted more than seven million people to flee.
Johnson has been an outspoken critic of the regime. In his first prime minister’s questions in office in 2019, he said it was “Caracas” — a wordplay on “crackers” — that the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, regarded Venezuela as an ally. He made a similar jibe as foreign secretary in 2017, telling the Conservative Party conference: “He says he still admires Bolivarian revolutionary socialism. I say he’s Caracas.”
In one of his first moves as London mayor, in 2008, Johnson scrapped a controversial deal negotiated by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, in which Chávez’s Venezuela provided cut-price diesel for the London bus network. He described the accord as “completely Caracas”.
However, a source close to Johnson said he was one of the few foreign secretaries to have toured Latin America extensively and that he had a surprising number of positive relationships with leaders on the continent. They added that Foreign Office diplomats had said they regarded his meeting with Maduro as helpful.
Johnson is not the only former prime minister to have direct ties with foreign leaders. Tony Blair advises Saudi Arabia and Indonesia via his eponymous institute. Shortly prior to his appointment as foreign secretary, Cameron met the Sri Lankan prime minister and lobbied for a sensitive infrastructure project. Liz Truss recently met Trump ally Steve Bannon in Washington DC.
However, it is unusual to have direct contact with a foreign government whose legitimacy is disputed by the UK and with which relations are highly sensitive.
