Veteran U.S. diplomat Tom Shannon will meet with senior Venezuelan government and opposition officials in Caracas on Tuesday, a week after Secretary of State John Kerry announced he wanted to ease tensions between the two countries, Reuters reported. Kerry announced plans to send Shannon, a veteran of U.S. diplomacy in the region, to Caracas after the secretary of state met with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization of American States in the Dominican Republic. Washington is hopeful Shannon will meet President Nicolas Maduro, Kirby said, but added there was no confirmation of a meeting. In a televised speech on Tuesday afternoon, leftist Maduro welcomed Shannon to the OPEC country. An aide to Henry Ramos, opposition head of Venezuela's national assembly, said he would meet with Shannon on Tuesday. Venezuela and the United States have repeatedly gone through periods of diplomatic fighting followed by generally short-lived eras of reconciliation. Shannon led diplomatic efforts last year to ease tensions but the talks were stalled by Venezuela's deepening crisis. By opening talks with Venezuela, Kerry also hopes it will lead to international mediation between the government and the opposition, which is pushing for a recall referendum to remove Maduro.
