Republic Have Agreed on a Roadmap to Fully Restore Diplomatic Ties, Which Were Severed After the Dominican Republic Condemned

Venezuela and the Dominican Republic have agreed on a roadmap to fully restore diplomatic ties, which were severed after the Dominican Republic condemned the 2024 re-election of then-President Nicolas Maduro as fraudulent. Venezuela's foreign ministry announced on Sunday that the two nations had agreed to a plan for the "gradual normalisation" of relations, describing the move as a response to the "shared interest of strengthening institutional channels of communication to benefit people of both countries. The agreement, the ministry said, was the result of "sustained dialogue" between the two nations.

The Dominican Republic was among dozens of countries that refused to recognise Maduro's 2024 re-election amid widespread allegations of fraud from election observers and Venezuela's political opposition. The disputed vote was followed by a deadly government crackdown on protests, prompting Venezuela to cut diplomatic ties with Santo Domingo. Maduro was later abducted by US forces in a military raid in January, and the interim government in Caracas, led by Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, has since pursued renewed engagement with formerly estranged partners as part of a broader realignment with US interests in the region.

That has included opening Venezuelan energy sources and other natural resources, such as minerals, to US investment, along with closer ties to Washington. Venezuela recently announced it would withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which it accused of bias against poor and non-Western countries. The ICC had said in 2021 it would investigate potential crimes against humanity by the Venezuelan government during its crackdown on anti-government protests in 2017. The withdrawal decision coincided with a push by the Trump administration to delegitimise and hobble the international body. In February, Venezuela agreed to restore flights between Caracas and Santo Domingo, along with consular services."