Venezuela launches talks with US to restore ties

Venezuela and the United States have taken first steps towards restoring diplomatic ties after a dramatic US military raid led to the capture and ouster of Venezuelan ex-President Nicolas Maduroand his wife Cilia Flores last week.

Venezuela said on Friday that it had launched talks with the US on reestablishing relations as a team of US diplomats and a security detail visited the South American country.

The delegation was in Caracas to make an initial assessment about the potential reopening of the US Embassy in the Venezuelan capital, the US State Department said in a statement.

The government of interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, who served as Maduro's deputy, said that it "has decided to initiate an exploratory diplomatic process” with the United States government "aimed at reestablishing diplomatic missions in both countries."

Venezuela said that it also plans to send a delegation to Washington but did not give any further details.

An official Venezuelan visit to the US would likely require a waiver of sanctions by the US Treasury Department.

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On Friday, Rodriguez said she had held telephone conversations with the leaders of Brazil, Colombia and Spain about what the interim president called the US' "grave, criminal, illegal, and illegitimate aggression” against her country.

Later on Friday, however, she said diplomacy with US President Donald Trump was the best way to defend Venezuela and to "ensure the return of President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.”

"We will meet face-to-face in diplomacy ... to defend the peace of Venezuela, the stability of Venezuela, the future, to defend our independence and to defend our sacred and inalienable sovereignty,” Rodríguez said at the inauguration of a women's health clinic in Caracas.

On Thursday, Rodriguez's brother, Jorge, who heads the Venezuelan National Assembly, announced that authorities would start releasing political prisoners as a gesture of "peace."

While the US capture of Maduro was ostensibly because of his alleged ties to drug trafficking networks, Trump has repeatedly said one of the main factors behind the US intervention in Venezuela's is gaining access to the South American country's vast oil reserves.

At a meeting at the White House on Friday, Trump urged top oil executives to step up investments in Venezuela.

As the discussions began, Trump told the executives he wanted US oil companies to commit at least $100 billion to bolster Venezuelan oil production.

"If you don't want to go in, just let me know, because I've got 25 people that aren't here today that are willing to take your place," Trump said.

Trump's demand was met with a cautious response from ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods, who said that Venezuela's legal and economic conditions currently made investment impossible.

Trump later asked the media to leave the room so that he could begin negotiations with the executives.

"We sort of formed a deal," Trump said following the meeting.

"They're going to be going in with hundreds of billions of dollars in drilling oil, and it's good for Venezuela and it's great for the United States," he said, without providing more information.

On January 3, US forces conducted airstrikes in Venezuela and seized Nicolas Maduro.

Caracas says the US operation left 100 people dead.

Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were flown to New York, where they face drug-trafficking and other charges.

In the latest round of protests on Friday, demonstrators rallied on the streets of the Venezuelan capital, demanding Maduro's release.