U.S., Venezuela Launch Diplomacy Effort

The United States and Venezuela have opened up a dialogue to try and improve relations, Reuters reports. A senior U.S. official says the talks are still in their early stages, but began in March when Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro requested a “direct channel of communication” with President Obama and the State Department. “He realized that if we can talk to the Cubans, we can talk to him,” the official said. “We approached it very carefully because we had seen this before, but there was also U.S. concern that the relationship was reaching such a dangerous point that it risked breaking completely.”