Poland in Venezuela

Historical view 

Poland and Venezuela initiated diplomatic relations for the first time in 1933, to be renewed after the 2nd World War in 1945. In 1952, under Marcos Pérez Jiménez’s presidency, Venezuela suspended the diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of Polonia, which were reanudated in 1960. The dynamics of the Polish-Venezuelan relations in the second half of the 20th century fluctuated according to the political circumstances of the Cold War period.

Political cooperation after 1989

Relations with Poland were not a priority for the Venezuelan foreign policy, more focused into the western hemisphere, the OPEC and the developing countries. However, the political and economic changes happened in Europe and Poland after 1989 awakened the Venezuelan interest for the development of a cooperation with the Central European countries, including Poland. In November 1993 was signed in Caracas an agreement on a permanent consultation system between senior officers of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela and Poland. In November 1996, during the consultations in Caracas at Vice-Chancellors level, the notes about visa suppression for holders of diplomatic and service passports were exchanged. The agreement entered in force on December 21st, 1996. On May 19th, 1996 it was created in Warsaw a Polish-Venezuelan Parliamentary Group, which was composed by 4 members of the Lower House of the Parliament and one Senator. A Venezuelan delegation headed by the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jorge Hidalgo Valero Briceño, took part in the conference “Towards a Community of Democracy”, held in Warsaw on June 26th and 27th, 2000. In June 2002 Warsaw hosted the political consultations at Vice-Chancellors level, where Poland was represented by Mr. Andzrej Zalucki and Venezuela by Mr. Arévalo Méndez Romero. Within the same frame or regular consultations, a Polish delegation headed by the Vice-Chancellor Andzrej Zalucki visited Venezuela in November 2003, meeting the Vice-Chancellor Arévalo Méndez and also different Ministers of the Government and executives of the main Venezuelan enterprises. On January 27th 2013, during the 7th Summit between the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the European Union (EU) in Santiago de Chile, it was signed a new cooperation agreement between Venezuela and Poland. The Polish party was represented by the Chancellor Radoslaw Sikorski, who met his Venezuelan homologue, the Minister Elías Jaua. The agreement sets a good base for bigger cooperation in areas of common interest for both countries. In 2014 round of political consultations between Poland and Venezuela were carried out.

In more recent time the relations between two countries have been stangant with no official visits taking place. In 2021 Venezuelan November local elections Polish observers were taking part in the European Union elections obervation mission.

The balance of trade between both countries has been for years very favorable for Poland, with a great advantage of Polish exports over imports. The bilateral trade exchange has drastically decreased due to economic decline of Venezuela, and more recently due to sanctions as well as lack of trade connections between the two countries.

Most recent data (by Eurostat) estamte total trade value at 6,5 mln EUR, sharp decline from 114,7 mln USD in 2015. Polish export stands at 6,14 mln EUR, and import at 0,36 mln EUR. 

The Cultural Activity of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Caracas is one of its strongest points, since for many years work has been done to promote the Polish arts in all its manifestations (music, dance, cinema, theater, literature and more), as well as their traditions and vision.