Venezuela, the US agrees to restore political relations after the capture of Maduro – National
The United States and Venezuela have agreed to restore diplomatic ties in a major shift in the historically adversarial relationship, the State Department said Thursday.
The move comes after Trump administration officials visited the South American country following the US military operation that ousted former President Nicolás Maduro in January.
Since then, the Trump administration has been increasing pressure on Maduro’s now-in-power loyalists to embrace his vision of an oil-rich nation.
Relations between the two countries were severed following another diplomatic spat in 2019, during the Trump administration. The US embassy was closed in Caracas and diplomatic staff moved to neighboring Colombia.
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The State Department said in a statement that the talks between the countries “are focused on helping the Venezuelan people move forward in a phased process that creates the conditions for a peaceful transition to a democratically elected government.”
Since the unprecedented US invasion of Venezuela, the Trump administration has forced the government to open its oil sector to foreign companies.
The government of Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was once Maduro’s vice president, approved an amnesty law that will allow the release of politicians, activists, lawyers and many others, admitting that the government imprisoned hundreds of people for political reasons.
On Sunday, Venezuela’s main opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado said she would return to Venezuela in the coming weeks and that elections would be held in Venezuela.
Such a seismic shift would have been unthinkable just a few months ago in the South American nation. Venezuela’s mainstream politics, known as Chavismo, has managed to dodge the curveballs thrown at it over the years, from US sanctions to a worsening economic crisis.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
