The official visit of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to Saudi Arabia opened today, Monday 5 June; the first Chavista mandate arrived in the morning in the city of Jedd, the second most important in the country for a series of meetings aimed at strengthening the political, diplomatic and energy alliances between the two states.

The Bolivarian delegation also includes the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Yván Gil, and of Communications, Freddy Ñáñez. This is Maduro's third official visit to the Middle Eastern country where he has already been in 2015 and the following year; during this he is expected to meet King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the crown prince, Mohamed bin Salman.

Maduro arrived in Jeddah from the Turkish capital, Ankara, where he attended the inauguration of President Recep Tayip Erdogan for a new five-year term at the head of the Executive. Venezuela and Saudi Arabia have had bilateral relations since 1952 and have signed numerous cooperation programs.