US and Venezuela take initial steps toward restoring relations after Maduro’s ouster

GUATIRE, Venezuela — The United States and Venezuela said Friday they were exploring the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations, as a Trump administration delegation visited the South American nation. The visit marks a major step toward warming icy relations between the historically adversarial governments. U.S. military forces captured former President Nicolás Maduro last weekend in Caracas and took him to New York to face federal charges of drug-trafficking. The small team of U.S. diplomats and a security detail traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement. Venezuela’s government said Friday it plans to send a delegation to the U.S. but it did not say when. Any delegation traveling to the U.S. will likely require sanctions to be waived by the Treasury Department. In a statement, the government of acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez said it “has decided to initiate an exploratory process of a diplomatic nature with the Government of the United States of

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