Venezuela allows German envoy to return
July 2, 2019
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said in a statement that Ambassador Daniel Kriener could return to Caracas in the context of a process to "normalize the diplomatic relations between both states."
"Following a series of contacts with the German government, a process of normalization of diplomatic relations between the two states has been started," the statement continued.
Talks were held in Berlin on Monday between Venezuela's Deputy Minister for Europe, Yvan Gil, and the German Foreign Ministry's Latin America director Marian Schuegraf.
Kriener was declared persona non grata by President Nicolas Maduro in March after he and other European ambassadors went to welcome opposition leader Juan Guiado back from a tour of Latin America. Guaido had been seeking support for his campaign to take over as president from Maduro.
In February, the German government had recognized Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate head of state.
After Monday's meeting in Berlin, Maduro "decided to nullify" his March statement, and with Kriener's planned return to Caracas, looked forward to building "an agenda of mutual interest, in accordance with the principles of international cooperation."
jm/jil (EFE, Reuters)
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