US Restores Diplomatic Ties with Venezuela After Maduro Ouster

The United States and Venezuela agreed Thursday to reestablish diplomatic relations, the State Department announced, marking a dramatic reversal in a relationship severed since 2019.

The agreement follows a U.S. military operation in January that deposed former President Nicolás Maduro. After the operation, the Trump administration sent multiple senior officials to Caracas. The State Department said talks 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 came at the close of a two-day visit by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who focused on Venezuela's mining sector. Energy Secretary Chris Wright made a separate visit in February centered on the country's oil potential.

For Treasure Coast readers — many of whom have Venezuelan-American neighbors, friends or family members — the shift carries personal weight. South Florida and the Treasure Coast are home to one of the largest Venezuelan diaspora communities in the United States. Any movement toward democratic elections and an open economy could affect whether displaced Venezuelans here seek to return home or pursue permanent U.S. residency.

Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, formerly Maduro's vice president, said the steps "will strengthen relations between our two countries." Her government also approved an amnesty law that freed politicians, activists and lawyers held on political grounds. On Sunday, 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.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries had been cut off in 2019 after the first Trump administration backed opposition lawmaker Juan Guaidó, prompting mutual embassy closures.

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