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Chile’s foreign affairs minister is eager to resume full diplomatic relations with Venezuela before the government’s term ends in 2030 to facilitate the return of tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants. The ball is now in Venezuela’s court, he said.
Chile is “knocking at their door” in talks, and there are no specific obstacles to restarting consular relations, an important step toward mending ties, the country’s top diplomat Francisco Pérez Mackenna said in an interview from his office in downtown Santiago.
“We are lacking the will and the ‘OK’ from Venezuela,” Pérez Mackenna said. “We are more than willing.”
Pérez Mackenna is the global face of President José Antonio Kast’s new conservative administration which came to power in March vowing to crack down on clandestine migration and step up deportations, a platform aligned with the White House.
After US forces removed Venezuela’s former leader Nicolás Maduro in January, the Trump administration has embraced his successor Delcy Rodríguez. Kast wants to seize on the political momentum to repair relations and deport tens of thousands of undocumented Venezuelans. In the absence of diplomatic ties, he has nowhere to send them to.
“I hope it’s much sooner than four years,” Pérez Mackenna said regarding diplomatic relations. Maduro broke ties with Chile in 2024, and the Foreign Affairs Minister Yván Gil has said the idea of restoring them is “impossible” because of Kast’s verbal “attack” against the country and its people.
Chile’s talks with Venezuela are evolving in a “positive” manner, Pérez Mackenna said.
Jorge Alessandri, the president of Chile’s Chamber of Deputies, said in a separate interview last week that Chile could use US help to revive relations with Venezuela. Consular services to renew expired passports could be offered at the United Nations office in Chile, the US embassy or a reopened Venezuelan embassy, Alessandri said.
“Everyone can help,” Pérez Mackenna said when asked if the Trump administration can assist. “This is not just a problem for Chile, by the way. There are other countries that are also in the same situation as us.”
The US State Department and Venezuela’s Information Ministry, which centralizes communication for Venezuelan authorities, didn’t immediately reply to separate requests for comment.
Roughly 7.9 million Venezuelans fled their country’s economic and social collapse since 2014, according to UN data . Within Latin America, Colombia is home to nearly 3 million, while Peru has about 1.5 million.
Over 700,000 Venezuelans resided in Chile as of 2023, according to national statistics agency figures. And of more than 300,000 undocumented foreigners living in Chile, most are Venezuelan, according to government officials.
Venezuela also hosts around 25,000 Chilean expatriates, some of whom fled during Chile’s 17-year dictatorship that ended in 1990.
Tariff Talks
Kast’s foreign policy prioritizes security, economic growth and confidence between nations, said Pérez Mackenna, one of several University of Chicago business school alumni in and adjacent to the administration. Before assuming his current role, he served as chief executive officer of the holding company Quiñenco SA for 28 years.
In recent months, Pérez Mackenna’s travels have included the US, India and Argentina, and he will return to the US in early July for the country’s 250th independence celebration. He said he plans to meet investors in New York and government authorities in Washington.
There could also be meetings about tariffs, Pérez Mackenna said. “At the very least, we are going to present our concerns and our confidence that we have a free trade agreement that we want to keep in force.”
Chile has been in talks with the US since the Trump administration imposed a 10% baseline tariff on the South American nation in April 2025. Three months later, the US decided to exempt refined copper from import levies, offering relief to Chile, the world’s top exporter of the red metal.
The US is also proposing new tariffs on 60 trading partners following a probe into how they handle goods allegedly produced by forced labor. If this recommendation is adopted, Chilean goods would be subject to a 12.5% levy.
Pérez Mackenna also highlighted the importance of collaborating with the US on security manners, specifically regarding intelligence-sharing and technology.
Other countries that he will visit in coming months include China in August, as well as Japan and the Philippines.
A political independent, Pérez Mackenna has also led companies including Cia. Cervecerias Unidas SA and Cia. Sud Americana de Vapores SA. He was a regular columnist on economic matters before becoming minister.