Maduro meets with US diplomat amid tension in ties
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has met with an American envoy in Caracas amid tension between the two countries.
On Wednesday, Maduro accepted to meet veteran diplomat Tom Shannon after lunch in the Miraflores presidential palace in the capital Caracas.
The US had already expressed hope that Shannon can get to meet the president during his visit to hold talks with a number Venezuelan officials.
The 57-year-old’s visit came at a time that food riots and violent looting have become a daily occurrence across scarcity-struck Venezuela.
Protests and melees at shops have been spreading around the recession-hit oil-producing nation in recent weeks, fueled by shortages of basic foods.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s right-wing opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), is racing to call a referendum by the end of the year to oust Maduro.
The US has said that it will support a "fair and timely" referendum, which could topple Maduro, who once served under late President Hugo Chavez.
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.
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.
It was not immediately clear what went down during the Wednesday meeting in Miraflores.
Shannon also met with some opposition leaders, including Henrique Capriles, who is at the vanguard of calls for a referendum due to previous losses against Chavez and Maduro in presidential elections.
The meeting was held ahead of discussions over a proposal in the Organization of American States that could ultimately suspend Venezuela from the bloc.
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