After 7 Years, US to Restore Diplomatic Ties With Venezuela

The United States and Venezuela agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations in a major shift in a historically adversarial relationship, the State Department said on Thursday. Rounds of Trump administration officials have visited the South American nation after a US military operation deposed former President Nicolás Maduro in January, the AP reports. Since then, the Trump administration has been stepping up pressure on Maduro loyalists who now run the oil-rich nation. Relations between the two countries were cut off following another geopolitical debacle in 2019, during the first Trump administration. The American embassy in Caracas has already reopened and sources tell the BBC that more staff from the US embassy in Bogota, Colombia will be transferred there soon.

• "This step will facilitate our joint efforts to promote stability, support economic recovery, and advance political reconciliation in Venezuela," the State Department said in a statement, per Reuters. The department said 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 Venezuelan government said it was seeking a "new stage of constructive dialogue, based on mutual respect," though the statement from Caracas made no mention of future elections, the BBC reports.