We have not heard much about Boris Johnson recently

Ex-PMs engaging with iffy foreign leaders – perhaps at a reasonable price – is not unusual. Tony Blair tacitly controls several nations. David Cameron found the golden age of Anglo-Chinese relations flourished in and out of office. Johnson has made over £5 million since leaving office through speaking engagements and joined Scott Morrison in Israel last November. Global Britain indeed.

But visiting Venezuela is a particular eyebrow-raiser. It is not a country with which the West currently has the friendliest relations. Following 2018 elections boycotted by opposition leaders amidst widespread repression, Britain hasn’t officially recognized Maduro’s regime. Colin Dick, our top man in Caracas, is stationed as a chargé d’affaires ad interim, rather than as an ambassador.

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Johnson has something of a long-standing interest in Venezuela. In his first PMQs, he claimed Jeremy Corbyn was “Caracas” to consider the country an ally, a gag he had previously deployed as Foreign Secretary. He first sent it into battle against Ken Livingstone, his old Mayoral rival whose cut-price-oil deal with Hugo Chávez he cancelled soon after entering City Hall.

But Johnson’s interest goes further than puns. He wasn’t Venezuela’s only notable visitor last month. Sergey Lavrov, Putin’s Foreign Minister, was there to promote “co-operation in oil production, gas field development, agriculture, medicine, and pharmaceuticals”. Maduro has supported Russia throughout its invasion of Ukraine. Some fear it could prove Putin with military support.

Johnson is wise enough to know that thinking 45 minutes of him bending Maduro’s ear would see him jack in the dictatorship shtick and throw his weight behind Ukraine is absurd. Still, attempting to do so will have piqued his interest. He is still, at heart, a journalist. He knew his trip would be splashed across the headlines. ...

... For all Johnson’s previous obsession with grabbing a ball loose from the scrum, he seems to be quite enjoying retirement. Perhaps he might one day return at his party’s time of need.