Venezuela backtracks on order expelling US embassy personnel


Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela

Nicolas Maduro’s government backtracked on an order that gave U.S. Embassy personnel 72 hours to leave Venezuela, defusing tensions between the countries just hours after their top diplomats traded heated rhetoric at a special U.N. Security Council meeting to address the South American country’s crisis.

Maduro broke relations with the United States on Wednesday after the Trump administration recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president, a move the embattled socialist described as a “vile” coup attempt.

Maduro gave American diplomats three days to leave the country, but the Trump administration refused to obey his order, arguing that the leftist leader was no longer Venezuela’s legitimate president. That set the stage for a potentially violent showdown at the hilltop Embassy compound Saturday night, when the deadline was to expire.

But as the sun set on Venezuela’s capital, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying the Maduro government had opened a 30-day window to negotiate with the Trump administration the establishment of a “U.S. interests office” in Venezuela, and a similar office for Venezuela in the United States. A similar arrangement governed bilateral relations between the U.S. and Cuba for decades before the Obama administration restored diplomatic relations with the communist-run island.

The State Department did not immediately confirm the Venezuelan government’s account, reiterating only that its priority remains the safety of its personnel and that it has no plans to close the embassy.

“That is true diplomacy,” Maduro said after reading out the statement on national television.

Earlier in the day, Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Minister faced off against Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a special U.N. Security Council meeting on Venezuela’s situation.

During the debate – which was convened by the U.S. – Pompeo urged all nations to end Venezuela’s “nightmare” and support opposition leader Juan Guaido while Russia accused the Trump administration of attempting “to engineer a coup d’etat” against President Nicolas Maduro – a reflection of the world’s deep divisions over the crisis in the South American country.

Pompeo told the U.N. Security Council that it’s beyond time to back the Venezuelan people as they try to free themselves from what he called Maduro’s “illegitimate mafia state” and support Guaido.