U.S., Venezuela to restore diplomats?

According to Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro the U.S. and Venezuela will restore their respective ambassadors.

While speaking to reporters during the summit of the ALBA trade bloc, Maduro claimed that the move "will take place in the coming days, and as soon as the ambassadors have resumed their functions we will move forward to a more fluid communication." That seemed to be confirmed by source at Venezuela's Foreign Ministry who told Reuters that” Bernardo Alvarez returns to Washington this Friday (and) relations have been reestablished.”

The State Department didn’t confirm or deny Maduro’s claims though spokeswoman Heide Bronke Fulton said that "since Secretary (of State Hillary) Clinton and (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chavez spoke at the Summit of the Americas, both our governments have worked toward the goal of returning ambassadors to our respective capitals."

Both diplomats were sent packing in September after Bolivia’s Evo Morales accused U.S. ambassador Philip Goldberg of conspiring against the Andean sate’s government. Assuming that Maduro is correct, the restoring of ambassadors would mark an improvement in U.S.-Venezuela relations.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said in April, at a summit of the Americas where he met US President Barack Obama for the first time, that he hoped to send an ambassador back to Washington.

Mr. Chavez was a fierce critic of the US under former President George W Bush, accusing Washington of plotting to assassinate him.

But in a sign of warming ties, Mr. Obama shook hands with Mr. Chavez at the summit, and accepted a book from the Venezuelan leader.

Image- China Daily (“Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez (L) greets new US ambassador to Venezuela, Patrick Duddy, at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas in this October 29, 2007 file photo.”)
Online Sources- BBC News, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, AFP

Daily Headlines: January 28, 2009

* Mexico: U.S. immigration officials claim that most of the controversial “virtual fence” along the U.S.-Mexico border has been done.

* Cuba: Did Fidel Castro betray Ernesto "Che" Guevara as a former Cuban guerrilla has claimed?

* Latin America: Up to 2.4 million workers in Latin America could lose their jobs this year according to an International Labor Organization report.

* Venezuela: Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said that Venezuela will not yet recall U.S. ambassador Patrick Duddy; Duddy was booted from Venezuela last September.

Image- AP (“In this Nov. 17, 2008 file photo, a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle stands guard along the border fence with its concertino wire topping it, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File).”)
Online Sources- LAHT, IHT, Reuters, The Latin Americanist

Bolivia and Venezuela send US diplomats packing; US returns the favor

On Thursday, diplomatic envoys from the US in Bolivia and Venezeula were ordered to return to the US, and the US followed suit in the case of Bolivia, though has yet to return the favor in the case of the Venezuelan ambassador to the US.

Among other comments, Hugo Chavez, late Thursday evening, said:

"When there's a new government in the United States--a government that respects Latin America--we'll send an ambassador."

While the declaration on Thursday of the Bolivan ambassador to the US as "persona non grata" may seem like a reactionary response to the equally short-sighted explulson of the US ambassador in Bolivia, it was evidently in accordance with the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations. It remains to be seen when and how this particulary escalated case of diplomatic bullying will be resolved by cooler heads, but one would hope that it will be de-escalated and and that the ambassodors will be returned as soon as possible.

By my own view, two "wrongs" tend not to make a "right" -- but in this case, it appears that two lefts have made a wrong that they will shortly need to make right again.

Source: AFP, Reuters, Bloomberg News, Wikipedia (deal with it)