The United States said Wednesday that the latest trip by a delegation to Venezuela focused on US citizens' welfare, amid moves to restart negotiations between the government and opposition.
President Nicolas Maduro had announced the US officials' visit on Monday, saying they was there to discuss a "bilateral agenda," and the opposition said it held separate talks with the US team.
The State Department said the delegation consisted of Roger Carstens, the envoy for hostage affairs, and Jimmy Story, the US ambassador to Venezuela who is based in Colombia instead of Caracas as Washington considers the opposition to be the legitimate government.
The trip to Caracas was "for discussions about the welfare and safety of US nationals in Venezuela," a State Department spokesperson said.
The visit came after the family of former US Marine Matthew Heath, who is imprisoned in Venezuela, said he had attempted suicide and complained that the US government had not acted sooner in response to concerns about his condition.
Heath was arrested in September 2020 and accused of terrorism, with Venezuelan authorities saying he was found with weapons aimed at destabilizing the country.
The United States says Heath was wrongfully detained. Two other Americans were released in March after a previous visit by US officials to Caracas.
Former president Donald Trump launched a pressure campaign in 2019 in an unsuccessful attempt to topple Maduro, a leftist presiding over a crumbling economy, after wide accounts of irregularities when he was re-elected the previous year.
President Joe Biden's administration, while not recognizing Maduro, has looked to recalibrate the strategy and offered an easing of sanctions if Maduro reconciles with the opposition.
Biden did not invite either Maduro or Juan Guaido, whom Washington considers interim president, to a major Americas summit in Los Angeles in early June although Guaido's wife Fabiana Rosales later visited the White House.
