U.S. diplomatic personnel have been deployed to Caracas as the Trump administration moves to resume relations with Venezuela after Nicolás Maduro's capture.

Venezuelan lawmakers on Thursday backed a plan that would make it easier for foreign companies to participate in the country’s oil industry, in the latest move by Caracas to meet the demands of US President Donald Trump.

It lines up another potential showdown between the two superpowers that could further complicate the South American country's path out of default.

Mr Putin praised Russia’s constructive role in Latin America and the Middle East. He made no mention of America’s armed forces having abducted Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s president, a Russian ally whom he had welcomed in the Kremlin eight months earlier—much less of how easily they had knocked out Venezuela’s Russian-built air defences.

Several surveys show that a majority of Latin Americans who were questioned endorsed the intervention, suggesting a shift, at least for now, from ideology to pragmatism.

The U.S. takeover of Venezuela's oil exports has re-routed crude barrels that were being used to service debt owed to China.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said this week Venezuela continues to carry out politically motivated arbitrary detentions.