Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Caribbean
CaribbeanNewsWorld

U.S. and Venezuelan Officials Meet in Haiti to Continue Low-Profile Talks

Posted byBy Shamone Nelson | Published on: CommentsComments (0)
Ambassador Thomas Shannon, counselor of the U.S. State Department, testifies on U.S.-Cuba relations before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington May 20, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

Ambassador Thomas Shannon, counselor of the U.S. State Department

CARACAS (Reuters) – A U.S. envoy has met Venezuela’s second most powerful official in Haiti in a further sign of rapprochement between the ideological foes, according to Venezuelan state media.

Thomas Shannon, counselor to Secretary of State John Kerry, has emerged in recent months as a go-between for Caracas and Washington, visiting Venezuela a couple of times for low-profile meetings with President Nicolas Maduro.

In the worst flare-up since Maduro came to power, Venezuela earlier this year accused Washington of plotting a coup, ordered it to reduce its embassy staff and imposed a visa requirement on U.S. visitors.

In turn, the United States declared Venezuela a national security threat and ordered sanctions against seven officials it accused of corruption and rights abuses.

But both sides have lowered the tone in recent weeks.

In the meeting on Saturday in Haiti, Shannon met National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, widely regarded as the No. 2 in Venezuela after Maduro, and Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez.

The meeting lasted an hour and a half, according to state news agency AVN, and was mediated by Haitian President Michel Martelly.

“We held a working meeting in Haiti with Tom Shannon and the U.S. delegation en route to normalizing relations,” Rodriguez tweeted.

State-funded network Telesur quoted Cabello as saying that Venezuela and the United States both planned to cooperate with Haiti in fighting cholera.

Venezuela wants better relations with the United States but unnamed “interests” are blocking that, he added.

“They have tried to attack and bomb this initiative in order to keep us from normalizing relations between the two countries,” Telesur quoted him as saying.

“The U.S. and Venezuelan delegations took advantage of this opportunity to continue our bilateral talks,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson, who asked not to be named, said in an email to Reuters.

The spokesperson added that the talks were initiated by Martelly, keen to discuss support for Haiti’s elections as well as its reconstruction and development.

The meeting came after reports in U.S. media that Washington is investigating Cabello over involvement in drug trafficking and money laundering, allegations he denies.

Read more at yahoo.com

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top