In a recent commentary for the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, Paul Webster Hare, Master Lecturer and former British ambassador to Cuba, analyzes the implications of a controversial oil agreement between the Trump administration and Venezuela’s interim government led by Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed her role after the United States’ removal of Nicolás Maduro from power on January 3, 2026. Hare argues that the deal marks a dramatic departure from decades of public diplomacy on both sides.

For years, Venezuelan leaders framed the U.S. as a threat to the country’s sovereignty and natural resources, while Washington publicly championed democratic governance and electoral transparency in Venezuela. According to Hare, “Both the United States and Venezuela have scrapped their long-standing public diplomacy positions. Both states are now projecting totally different world views,” leading to raised questions about legitimacy, sovereignty, and the future of U.S.-Venezuela relations.

Hare contends that the agreement has created tensions not only between the two governments and their domestic audiences, but also with international observers. He notes that critics have questioned the constitutional authority of Rodríguez’s interim government to negotiate such a far-reaching agreement and argues that many Venezuelans remain more concerned with holding new elections than with expanding energy cooperation with the U.S. The article also highlights concerns that a focus on strategic and economic interests may be overshadowing longstanding democratic principles that have shaped U.S. policy toward Venezuela.

Ultimately, Hare suggests that the agreement reflects a broader transformation in the public diplomacy of both countries. By abandoning established positions in favor of new political and economic priorities, he argues, Washington and Caracas risk undermining the consistency and credibility that effective diplomacy requires. The result, Hare writes, is a diplomatic landscape shaped less by long-term national interests and more by the preferences of individual leaders, an approach he warns may prove difficult to sustain.

The full article can be read here.

Paul Webster Hare is a master lecturer at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. He served as British Ambassador to Cuba from 2001 to 2004 and also represented the U.K. to the European Union in Brussels, New York, Portugal, and Venezuela as deputy head of mission. Hare has extensively written about Cuba for renowned news outlets including The Financial Times, The Atlantic, Newsweek, and The Huffington Post. He is also the co-editor of the Palgrave Handbook of Diplomatic Reform and Innovation, which analyzes current practices of diplomacy and proposes practical solutions to improve diplomatic outcomes.