Trump administration, Venezuela reestablishing diplomatic ties after Maduro capture

The United States and Venezuela agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations, two months after President Trump launched a military operation that resulted in the capture of the country’s president and U.S. control of its oil industry. 

The State Department on Thursday said the agreement with Venezuela’s interim authorities is an effort to “promote stability, support economic recovery, and advance political reconciliation in Venezuela.”

The government of Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez said in a statement that the repaired 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.

Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had cut off diplomatic relations with the U.S. in 2019 after Trump, during his first term, recognized Venezuelan opposition figure Juan Guaidó, who claimed to be the country’s interim president in January of that year.  

The announcement was made at the end of a two-day visit by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to Venezuela. The visit largely focused on the country’s mining sector, and followed a February visit by Energy Secretary Chris Wright focused on Venezuela’s oil industry. 

Trump put his support behind Rodriguez’s leadership of the country following the U.S. capture of Maduro on Jan. 3. Maduro was extradited to New York to face trial on drug charges alongside his wife. 

Trump has praised Rodriguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president, for her cooperation with the U.S. and pointed to the U.S. intervention in Venezuela as a model for his war against Iran, and efforts to collapse the communist government in Cuba.

But Trump’s endorsement of Rodriguez has so-far sidelined the political opposition in the country, including Maria Corina Machado. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate led the 2020 effort in Venezuela documenting the opposition’s victory over Maduro in that year’s presidential elections. Maduro claimed victory and Machado went into hiding after the elections. 

Trump has said Machado doesn’t have the support in the country to take over power from Rodriguez, and the U.S. has put efforts into working with the current regime in getting priority access for American companies to the country’s oil markets. 

The State Department said in its statement that the restoration of diplomatic ties is focused on helping the Venezuelan people move through a “phased process” that leads to a peaceful transition to a democratically elected government. 

Rodriguez has been recognized for taking proactive steps to anticipate U.S. democratic demands, including passing legislation to release political prisoners. Activists say the legislation has shortcomings but is a welcome first step. 

Trump highlighted one of the released prisoners, former presidential opposition candidate Enrique Marquez, during the State of the Union address. He brought Marquez out into the House chamber to reunite with his niece.  

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