Are the US and Venezuela Quietly Making Diplomatic Progress?

Contentious relations between the U.S. and Venezuela in recent years that have seen that country’s leftist leaders accuse the United States of engineering coup attempts and domestic unrest appear to be quietly giving way to renewed efforts at diplomacy. In the past several months, State Department Counselor Tom Shannon has traveled to Caracas on two publicized trips to meet with President Nicolas Maduro. Shannon also met in Haiti last month with the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello. Cabello, who is being investigated by U.S. prosecutors in connection with global drug trafficking, said the meeting was "aimed at normalizing diplomatic relations with respect to international law, sovereignty and self-determination of people." More…