While Venezuela's announcement that President Hugo Chávez's bout with cancer has taken a turn for the worse is making big headlines, there is another development in the Venezuelan drama that has gone almost unnoticed: high-level US-Venezuelan talks preparing for a post-Chávez future may have already started, according to US officials.
Roberta S. Jacobson, the top US State Department official in charge of Latin American affairs, held a long telephone conversation with Venezuela's Vice-President and Chávez-designated heir Nicolás Maduro on November 21, where the two discussed, among other things, the possibility of restoring ambassadors, the sources said.
The talks, which were encouraged by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, started with a US diplomatic approach to Maduro's office asking whether the vice-president would take a call from Jacobson, the sources added. The answer was positive, and the telephone conversation took place shortly thereafter.
Asked whether she had talked with Maduro, Jacobson replied, "Yes. We are always interested in having a more productive relationship with Venezuela, starting with counternarcotics, and in order to have a more productive relationship you have to talk to people."
Read more: US, Venezuela are reportedly seeking post-Chávez thaw - Daily News - EL UNIVERSAL
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