CARACAS (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 Nicolás 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 following another geopolitical debacle in 2019, during the first Trump administration. The U.S. Embassy was closed in Caracas and diplomatic staff moved to neighboring Colombia.
The State Department said in a statement 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, largely to provide security assurances to mining companies interested in investing in the South American nation, where areas rich in minerals like gold have long been controlled by criminal groups.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, formerly Maduro’s vice president, said on state televisions that such steps “will strengthen relations between our two countries.”
Since the unprecedented U.S. offensive in Venezuela, the Trump administration has pushed the government to open its oil sector to foreign companies. Rodríguez’s government approved an amnesty law that would enable to release of politicians, activists, lawyers and many others, effectively acknowledging that the government has held hundreds of people in prison for political motivations.
On Sunday, Venezuela’s top opposition leader and winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize María 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.
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