The US ambassador to Venezuela has returned to Caracas, restoring diplomatic ties that were ruptured nine months ago with his expulsion in a row with President Hugo Chavez, the US embassy said.
US Ambassador Patrick Duddy arrived here late Wednesday, the embassy said. Venezuela's ambassador to the United States, Bernardo Alvarez, returned to his post in Washington on June 26.
The two countries agreed to the return of their respective ambassadors last week, patching up a rift that opened September 12 when Venezuela declared Duddy "persona non grata" and gave him 72 hours to leave the country.
The Venezuelan foreign ministry said at the time that it was expelling Duddy in response to what it said was a US campaign to destabilize the government of President Evo Morales in Bolivia, a Chavez ally.
Venezuela and the United States have had contentious relations in recent years, but they have moved to improve them since a summit of the Americas in April in Trinidad where Chavez met US President Barack Obama.
US charge d'affairs John Caulfield said normalizing diplomatic relations was important because it offered an opportunity to engage in dialogue despite differences between the two countries.
But it "does not mean that automatically we agree on everything," he said.
