US hopes veteran diplomat can meet Venezuela’s President Maduro

The United States is voicing hope that a veteran diplomat, sent to Venezuela, can meet with President Nicolas Maduro.

US State Department spokesman John Kirby announced that American veteran diplomat Tom Shannon was set to meet with Venezuelan officials in the South American country on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

"The main purpose is to have a series of discussions about the social, economic and political challenges in Venezuela and to try to help foster constructive, meaningful dialogue toward solutions with a variety of groups in the government and outside the government," Kirby claimed.

There was yet no confirmation of a meeting with the president himself.

Shannon’s visit to the oil-rich country follows a meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez on the sidelines of a gathering of the Organization of American States in the Dominican Republic’s Santo Domingo on June 14.

In a televised speech late on Tuesday, the Venezuelan president welcomed the veteran diplomat’s planned visit, saying, "I think it's very good that the right steps are taken to rebuild relations with the United States.”

Last year, Shannon  had tried to put an end to diplomatic fighting between the two states, but negotiations failed to get through.

Under the administration of President Barack Obama, the US has managed to relatively normalize ties with Cuba, another old-timer US foe in the region.

Since 2014, Venezuela has been grappling with protests against Maduro who is under fire by his critics, most notably the opposition, amid shortages of food, water, medicine and electricity.

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