BUENOS AIRES (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2019) The United States and Venezuela will hold talks within 30 days on creation of "offices of mutual interests" in the countries' capitals, and during this period the diplomas from the US and the Venezuelan embassies will be allowed not to leave the countries where they are working, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The ministry recalled that the diplomats had started leaving the embassies on Friday.
"The two governments have agreed to hold talks on creating an office of mutual interests in each capital. In these offices, migration procedures will be carried out, and other issues of mutual interest will be solved in strict compliance with the international laws in case of bilateral ties rupture. Agreement should be reached within 30 days," the statement read.
The ministry specified that diplomats from the US Embassy in Venezuela and the Venezuelan Embassy in the United States had been allowed to remain in the countries where they work in order to participate in these talks.
"During the agreed period they will be under diplomatic protection, but will have to conduct activities exclusively in the embassies," the statement read on.
On Tuesday, the situation in Venezuela, which has been hit by mass protests since the beginning of the week, escalated when the opposition-controlled National Assembly declared that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had usurped power. Opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president on the following day.
The United States along with some other states recognized Guaido as the interim president, after which Maduro accused the United States of organizing a coup in Venezuela. Maduro also decided to cut off diplomatic relations with the United States and asked US diplomats to leave the country within 72 hours. However, the United States has refused to withdraw its diplomats.
Russia has stressed that it only recognizes Maduro as the legitimately elected Venezuelan president.
