Brazil to reinstate ambassador

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May 17, 2017 7:55 PM

Both countries recalled their ambassadors in August 2016 during a row over the Brazilian Congress's impeachment of leftist president Dilma Rousseff.

Brazilian Defence Minister Raul Jungmann talks with foreign correspondents during a breakfast meeting at the Ministry in Brasilia, on May 17, 2017

Brazils ambassador to Venezuela, withdrawn last year during tensions between the two neighbors, will return to Caracas next week, Defense Minister Raul Jungmann said Wednesday.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 leftist PresidentNicolas 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, 42 people have died.

The oil-rich country has been suspended from the regional economic trade group Mercosur.

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