The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, on Tuesday publicly urged the American president, Joe Biden, to lift all sanctions on Venezuela. He framed the move as the opening of a new chapter in bilateral relations that would be conducted at the highest level, following a rupture that stretches back to 2019 but has seen tentative gains in recent months. Only through full sanctions relief, Maduro argued, can Venezuela begin a fresh era marked by mutual respect and practical cooperation with the United States—a sentiment he shared during a gathering in Caracas with representatives from the country’s economic sector. (Reuters)
Maduro asserted that Venezuela is united in its demand for permanent, definitive sanctions relief and for a new era of diplomacy. He emphasized that the objective is a relationship characterized by the strongest possible respect and cooperation between the two nations, stating that the idea has found broad support across political, religious, economic, cultural, and social sectors within Venezuela. (Reuters)
The diplomat described a clear appetite for reestablishing diplomatic ties and noted how the nation as a whole has rallied around this goal. He insisted that the readiness to pursue such a path is not limited to a single faction but reflects a broad consensus across multiple sectors of society. (Reuters)
In October, the United States signaled that it was not prepared to rebuild full diplomatic relations with Venezuela just yet. Nevertheless, the two countries have moved forward with a gradual process that included a partial, temporary easing of certain sanctions tied to the Maduro administration, signaling a careful, staged approach to rapprochement. (Reuters)
Brian Nichols, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, explained at a virtual briefing that Washington is not ready to rule out changes in diplomatic relations, but such shifts would come in the later stages of a broader transition. A few days prior, Maduro had said he expected a visit from Francisco Palmieri, the American diplomat who heads the U.S. Foreign Office Mission to Venezuela and is based in Bogotá. That visit had been framed as contingent on progress in talks, rather than a guaranteed outcome, and no date was set. (Reuters)