On the eve of President Nicolas Maduro’s inauguration in Caracas, the Venezuelan Embassy here celebrated with a toned-down reception Friday at the residence of the South American country’s Charge d’Affaires Yadira Hidalgo de Ortiz.

The informal gathering was in deference to protocol; Hidalgo had left Korea to go to Caracas on April 9 and a Korean delegation led by National Assembly Vice Speaker Park Byeong-seug traveled there on Wednesday to attend the ceremony. 

Delegations from more than 60 countries went to Venezuela for the swearing-in ceremony, including Presidents Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, Raul Castro of Cuba and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

According to media reports, no government representative from the United States attended the ceremony, perhaps typifying Washington’s prickly relationship with Caracas.

Korea and Venezuela are in the process of upgrading two-way ties. Venezuela’s diplomatic mission in Seoul could be upgraded to an ambassadorial level soon.

“Relations between Venezuela and Korea have been getting stronger and stronger,” said Luz Maria Escarra Gil, first secretary at the Venezuelan Embassy and acting charge d’affaires.

The Venezuelan diplomatic mission here has not had an ambassador-level envoy since July 10, 2006, when Ambassador Guillermo Quintero, Venezuela’s fifth mission chief, completed his posting. Bilateral ties appear to have ebbed since then.

That soon may change. Positive signs for an upgrade include the high-level delegation attending the inauguration ceremony and increased commercial links on transportation and construction, Escarra said.

Another sign of better ties might be Maduro himself, a former foreign minister whose leadership style Escarra described as “inclusive,” “flexible” and “open-minded,” as she had witnessed upon meeting him several times while working at the Ministry in 2009 and 2010.

A former bus driver, Maduro rose to become a trade union leader before being elected to Venezuela’s National Assembly in 2000.

He was appointed to a number of positions within the government under Chavez, including foreign minister in 2006. He took up the position of vice president in 2012.

“We will turn these six years into a miracle of economic prosperity,” Maduro said on his inauguration day, Friday. “We will guarantee peace in this country, only us, and I say that with modesty. I am ready to talk even with the devil.”

“I met him several times at the Ministry. He would encourage us to make suggestions and he was very approachable. We were always very busy, but in off times he seemed down to earth, flexible and practical,” Escarra said during the reception attended by diplomats from Latin American missions here, Dominican Ambassador to Korea Grecia Fiordalicia Pichardo Polanco and Tunisian Ambassador to Korea Mohamed Ali Nafti.

After Chavez’s death on March 5, Maduro assumed the powers and responsibilities of president and a snap election was called. On April 14, Maduro squeaked out a narrow victory amid allegations of vote tampering by longtime Chavez opponent Henrique Capriles.

While president, Chavez wanted to make a state visit to Korea in 2006, but Korea rebuffed his overtures, as reported by Yonhap News. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, however, Yonhap did not get the story completely right.

“I read that report but it was not fully correct,” Jo Yung-joon said in October last year, then the ministry’s director of Central American and Caribbean Affairs. “We did not reject an offer (by Venezuela for Chavez) to visit Korea.

“I checked the old records on this from the original offer from the Venezuelan side in 2006. It was only a matter of timing. There was a tit-for-tat over the scheduling between our side and the Venezuelan side,” Jo had said.

That statement contradicted the reason for declining Venezuela’s proposal for Chavez to visit as described in U.S. Embassy documents that online whistle-blower WikiLeaks uncovered in 2010.

Park Dong-won, director at the ministry’s South America division, told the U.S. Embassy that Korea declined a Chavez visit “sensitive to United States government concerns” and “in consideration of the U.S.-Korean alliance,” according to the leaked U.S. Embassy document.

The embassy cable added: “Park also noted Chavez’s personal attack on President Bush and Venezuela’s intervention in Latin American countries.

“Asked what reason (the Korean government) gave to Venezuela for declining, Park said the ROKG explained that its diplomatic agenda this year was full.” The leaked cable was signed off by former U.S. Ambassador to Korea Alexander Vershbow.

Maduro has promised a more efficient and effective Venezuelan government.

During an exhaustive 2½-hour inaugural speech, the new head of state vowed to address crime and purge the country’s popular social service programs of corruption and inefficiency, although he mentioned few specifics.

“I call the country to a revolution of socialist efficiency, to fight red tape, corruption, laziness, to fight backwardness, the culture of lethargy,” Maduro said during the speech, according to translations widely reported in the media.

And in specific recognition of the Korean delegation attending the inauguration, he said:

“Around the world we have had war and division and, after that, an era of hegemony. The 21st century, however, will be a century of brotherhood and peace. We salute the ambassador of Korea (Kim Joo-teck). We hope threats of war will be eliminated as well as nuclear weapons for the good of all humanity and for the Korean Peninsula.”

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)