US, Venezuela to Reestablish Relations 03/06 06:24

   

   CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- The United States and Venezuela agreed to 
reestablish diplomatic relations in a major shift in a historically adversarial 
relationship, the State Department said on Thursday.

   The move comes after rounds of Trump administration officials have visited 
the South American nation following a U.S. military operation that deposed 
former President Nicols Maduro in January. Since then, the Trump 
administration has been stepping up pressure on Maduro loyalists now in power 
to accept its vision for the oil-rich nation.

   Relations between the two countries were cut off in 2019, during the first 
Trump administration, in a decision by Maduro. They closed their embassies 
mutually after U.S. President Donald Trump gave public support to Venezuelan 
opposition lawmaker Juan Guaid, who claimed to be the nation's interim 
president in January that year. That prompted U.S. diplomatic staff to move to 
neighboring Colombia.

   The State Department in a statement on Thursday said that talks between the 
countries were "focused on helping the Venezuelan people move forward through a 
phased process that creates the conditions for a peaceful transition to a 
democratically elected government."

   The announcement was made at the end of a two-day visit by U.S. Secretary of 
the Interior Doug Burgum to Venezuela. The visit largely focused on the 
country's mining sector. It followed a February visit by Energy Secretary Chris 
Wright that centered on Venezuela's oil potential. Both secretaries are aiming 
to shore up foreign investment to advance the administration's phased plan to 
turn around the crisis-wracked nation.

   Acting President Delcy Rodrguez, formerly Maduro's vice president, said on 
state televisions that such steps "will strengthen relations between our two 
countries."

   Rodrguez's government in a statement later expressed confidence that 
reestablishing diplomatic relations "will contribute to strengthening 
understanding and opening opportunities for a positive and mutually beneficial 
relationship."

   "These relations ought to result in the social and economic happiness of the 
Venezuelan people," she said.

   Since the unprecedented U.S. offensive in Venezuela, the Trump 
administration has pushed the government to make sweeping changes, including 
opening its oil sector to foreign companies. Rodrguez's government also 
approved an amnesty law that has enabled the release of politicians, activists, 
lawyers and many others, effectively acknowledging that the government has held 
hundreds of people in prison for political motivations.

   Trump stunned Venezuelans in and outside their home country with his 
decision to work with Rodrguez, instead of the political opposition, following 
Maduro's ouster. On Sunday, Venezuela's top opposition leader and winner of the 
2025 Nobel Peace Prize Mara Corina Machado said that she will return to 
Venezuela in the coming weeks and that elections will be held in Venezuela.

   Such seismic shifts would have been unthinkable just months before in the 
South American nation. Venezuela's main political current, known as Chavismo, 
has been able to dodge curve balls thrown at it for years, from U.S. sanctions 
to spiraling economic crisis.