Senior officials from Venezuela and the United States held a rare meeting Monday in New York to lay the groundwork for a possible visit by Washington's top diplomat for Latin America, Venezuela said. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro had “very cordial,” hour-long talks with Thomas Shannon, the U.S. diplomat in charge of relations with Latin America, at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, the foreign ministry said late on Monday. It was the first time the two men met and Shannon expressed interest in visiting Venezuela, the ministry said.
