MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazilian ambassador will return to Venezuela next week

Both countries recalled their ambassadors in August 2016 during a row over the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff and her replacement by Michel Temer.

Brazil's ambassador to Venezuela, withdrawn last year during tensions between the two neighbors, will return to Caracas next week, Defense Minister Raul Jungmann said Wednesday.“Next Monday, the ambassador of Brazil will return to his place in Venezuela as a gesture of goodwill,” Jungmann told journalists in Brasilia.

 Referring to the economic collapse and violent political standoff in Venezuela, Jungmann said: “We cannot lose any opportunity to help mediate.”

Both countries recalled their ambassadors in August 2016 during a row over the Brazilian Congress's impeachment of leftist president Dilma Rousseff and her replacement by center-right President Michel Temer.

Venezuela's populist president Nicolas Maduro has been criticized by Brazil and numerous other countries for violent clashes between riot police and anti-government protesters. Since the start of April, over 45 people have died. The country has also been suspended from Mercosur.