This could be a major step forward in the fate of a certain South American nation: The United States and Venezuela have reportedly agreed to resume diplomatic and consular relations. The first indication came from News Nation White House Correspondent Kellie Meyer, in the form of a rather terse post on X.
U.S. and Venezuela's interim authorities agree to re-establish diplomatic and consular relations.
— Kellie Meyer (@KellieMeyerNews) March 5, 2026
This was followed by a U.S. News & World Report piece, which had (a few) more details.
The United States and interim authorities in Venezuela have agreed to re-establish diplomatic and consular relations, the U.S. State Department said in a statement on Thursday, adding that it was focused on creating conditions for a peaceful transition to a democratically elected government.
There's a key point there that is, for some reason, kind of tucked away at the end of a paragraph: "...peaceful transition to a democratically elected government." That's something Venezuela hasn't had for a while, not since the original Marxist thug, Hugo Chavez, took over. Note that this is the only indication to date of elections in Venezuela; there's no timeline, no expected date for those elections. The Venezuelan constitution calls for a new election within 30 days if a president is absent in the first four years of their term, but there is now a sworn-in "interim" president, Delcy Rodríguez, who was the vice president of the ousted Nicolás Maduro. So that trigger isn't tripped.
The priority now seems to be on stabilization.
"This step will facilitate our joint efforts to promote stability, support economic recovery, and advance political reconciliation in Venezuela," the State Department said.
"Our engagement is focused on helping the Venezuelan people move forward through a phased process that creates the conditions for a peaceful transition to a democratically elected government."
After months of heightened tensions, the U.S. captured Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in January, setting off a chain of changes in the country, including the swearing-in of interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
The two countries have since gradually resumed bilateral relations.
Those bilateral relations now include formal diplomacy and, we might presume, in time re-opening an embassy.
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While we can hope for a speedy election, which would be the ultimate in stabilization, this nevertheless isn't nothing. It's still troubling to have Delcy Rodriguez, a Maduro creature, in the role of president, interim or not. There are doubtless still a healthy proportion of Maduro flunkies in the various offices that would like to see her installed on a more permanent basis - or perhaps, someone like her, or worse - so they can go back to the way things were.
But this resumption of diplomatic relations may also be sending the not-so-subtle message that the United States is keeping a close eye on what Venezuela, and that interim government, are up to.
We also noted recently that the Nobel Peace Prize-winning María Corina Machado, a former presidential candidate herself, is planning to return to Venezuela from her self-imposed exile. That puts another key set of eyes on events, and those eyes come along with a dogged determination to set Venezuela right.
This just might work.