US voices willingness to develop better ties with Venezuela

The United States on Friday expressed its willingness to seek better ties with Venezuela following a goodwill gesture by the leader of the South American nation. "We have not closed any doors, and we're ready to sit down with Venezuela," State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki told reporters at a regular news briefing. She was responding to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's offer to resume talks with Washington Wednesday. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Venezuelan counterpart Elias Jaua met in June on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Guatemala. Kerry talked about a "potential of a new opening" in bilateral relations then and once again urged Maduro to help improve ties as late as last month. Psaki reiterated that Washington and Caracas can cooperate in areas of mutual interest such as energy and counterterrorism. The U.S. and Venezuela have not had each other's ambassadors since 2010, and Caracas expelled the U.S. charge d'affaires in October, prompting Washington to retaliate. Venezuela, an OPEC member, is flowing 900,000 barrels of oil per day to the United States.