Announcement of Diplomatic Reset
The governments of Peru and Venezuela announced on Friday a progressive resumption of integral bilateral relations after a two-year rupture, according to a statement from Peru's Foreign Ministry. In an initial phase, both countries have agreed to reactivate consular relations as a first step toward full normalization, with the immediate goal of ensuring consular protection for their nationals residing in each other's territory.[S1][S2][S6]
The announcement comes amid a government transition, as President-elect Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, will assume office next Tuesday. Fujimori, who ran for president four times, received support from Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado in her latest campaign.[S1][S3][S4]
Background of the Break
Diplomatic relations were severed on July 30, 2024, when Venezuela closed its consulates in Peru after Lima recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the president-elect of the Caribbean nation, rejecting Nicolás Maduro's claim to victory. Peru's then-foreign minister Javier González-Olaechea had called Maduro a person who seeks to perpetuate himself in power through a dictatorship after committing electoral fraud.[S1][S2][S4]
Since the break, the Venezuelan embassy and consulate in Lima remained closed, leaving over 1.6 million Venezuelans in Peru—the second-largest Venezuelan diaspora worldwide—unable to process passport issuances and renewals or access other consular services.[S1][S2]
Recent Political Changes
Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were arrested in a US military operation on January 3 of this year and pleaded not guilty two days later when arraigned in a New York federal court. Maduro faces charges of conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism and cocaine importation, while Flores is accused of drug importation and weapons possession.[S1][S2][S4]
Following Maduro's detention, then-Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assumed formal leadership as interim president. Among other measures, her government has formally resumed diplomatic and consular ties with the United States, which had been severed since 2019.[S1][S4]
