Venezuela and Dominican Republic Agree to Restore Diplomatic Relations

Venezuela and the Dominican Republic have agreed to work towards restoring relations, which were severed after the Dominican Republic criticised the re-election of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as fraudulent.

The two countries agreed on a roadmap for further talks on “gradual normalisation” of diplomatic ties, according to a statement from Venezuela’s foreign ministry on Sunday.

“This decision responds to the shared interest of strengthening institutional channels of communication to benefit people of both countries,” the ministry said, calling the agreement the result of “sustained dialogue” between both nations.

The Dominican Republic joined dozens of other countries in announcing that they would not recognise Maduro’s 2024 re-election amid widespread allegations of fraud from election observers and Venezuela’s political opposition. Those elections were followed by a deadly government crackdown on ensuing protests. Venezuela reacted by cutting off diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic.

Maduro was abducted by US forces in a military raid on Venezuela in January. The interim government in Caracas, led by interim President Delcy Rodriguez, has pursued renewed engagement with formerly estranged partners as part of a larger realignment with US interests in the region.

That has included opening up Venezuelan energy sources to US investment and greater access to other natural resources, such as minerals, along with closer ties to Washington.

Venezuela recently announced that it would pull out of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which it accused of bias against poor and non-Western countries. The ICC announced in 2021 that it would investigate potential crimes against humanity by the Venezuelan government during its crackdown on anti-government protests in 2017. However, the recent decision coincided with a push by the Trump administration to delegitimise and hobble the international organisation.

Venezuela agreed in February to restore flights between Caracas and Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, along with consular services.