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The United States and interim authorities in Venezuela have agreed to re-establish diplomatic and consular relations, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday, aiming to foster a peaceful transition to elect a new government in the South American country.
“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. “Our engagement is 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.”
After months of heightened tensions, the U.S. captured Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro in January, setting off a chain of changes in the country, including the swearing-in of interim President Delcy Rodriguez. U.S. President Donald Trump then stunned Venezuelans with his decision to work with Rodríguez — a member of Maduro’s socialist cabinet — instead of the conservative political opposition that was seen by independent monitors to have likely won the 2024 election.
The two countries have since gradually resumed bilateral relations, after Rodriguez’s interim government expressed interest in rebuilding ties with Washington with diplomatic missions in both countries.
Rodriguez’s government has released hundreds of people who rights groups classify as political prisoners, an effort seen as part of a package of deals key to normalizing relations with the U.S. The Venezuelan government had always denied holding political prisoners.
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The Venezuelan government “reaffirms its willingness to move forward in a new phase of constructive dialogue based on mutual respect, sovereign equality of states, and co-operation between our peoples,” it said in a statement on Thursday.
Relations between the two countries were cut off in 2019, during the first Trump administration, by Maduro. At the time, Washington gave public support to Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido and moved diplomatic staff to move to neighbouring Colombia.
Mining, oil companies take a new look
Thursday’s announcement was made on the heels of a two-day visit from U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who also heads the U.S. National Energy Dominance Council. He was the second cabinet secretary to visit Venezuela, following Energy Secretary Chris Wright in February.
Burgum, accompanied by two dozen mining and minerals companies, hailed efforts by Rodriguez to open the South American country to foreign investment in oil and minerals,
Exploration has not yet taken place in Venezuela to confirm reserves of rare earth elements, a grouping of 17 metals used to make magnets that turn power into motion. Rare earth elements are a subset of critical minerals, the global supply of which is dominated by China.
Burgum added that he is sure Venezuela will exceed its oil production goals for this year.
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Oil giant Shell inked several agreements with the Venezuelan government on Thursday that span offshore natural gas and onshore oil and gas opportunities, the company said in a statement.
Shell has had a long-running offshore gas project in Venezuela called Dragon that had experienced setbacks in recent years amid the rancour between the U.S. and Venezuela. In February, Shell said that general licences for oil and gas exploration issued by the U.S. will allow the company to move forward with the project.
Also this week, the U.S. Transportation Department said it has approved American Airlines’ request to operate U.S. flights to Caracas and Maracaibo in Venezuela from Miami through its wholly owned regional carrier Envoy.
American Airlines aims to resume services to Venezuela for the first time in more than six years. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration was in Caracas last week to review airport security procedures, sources told Reuters, a step needed to resume flights.
In January, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy rescinded a 2019 order that barred U.S. airlines from flying to Venezuela, at Trump’s direction.
Maduro, meanwhile, is jailed in New York awaiting trial. The former president and his wife Cilia Flores both pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges that could keep them in U.S. prisons for decades.
