News Analysis: "Tough but smart" diplomacy works for Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro seemed to have adopted a more balanced diplomacy, as indicated by recent progress in developing relations with its traditional adversaries.

"The president of the United States rejected the decree he himself signed, and allowed for diplomatic channels to seek respect and understanding. We have to recognize President Obama's bravery by saying what he said, in reaching out, and creating a diplomatic channel which, thank God, is working very well," Maduro said recently at the parliament, referring to the negotiation with the United States recently.

The turning point can be traced to mid-June in Haiti, where Thomas Shannon, counselor to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, met National Assembly Speaker Diosdado Cabello, the second most powerful official of Venezuela, for one and a half hours "en route to normalizing ties," according to Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez's tweet.

Such contact and toning down of confrontational rhetoric were barely imaginable back to March, when Caracas accused Washington of plotting a coup, ordered it to reduce the embassy staff and imposed a visa requirement on U.S. visitors. In return, the United States declared Venezuela a national security threat and imposed sanctions on seven officials it accused of corruption and rights abuses.

The detente between the two countries came as the United States has successfully mended ties with Cuba, the most dependable ally of Venezuela in Latin America. The United States and Cuba restored diplomatic relations on July 20, after 54 years of severance.

Being "tough but smart" has been the mainstay of Venezuela's diplomatic route ever since Maduro succeeded his mentor Hugo Chavez in 2013, while he struggled to bring his country out of triple-digit inflation, shortage of goods and besiege of oppositions.

Another case in point was Maduro's July 6 decision to recall his ambassador to Guyana for consultation, as the bilateral border dispute escalated over a significant offshore oil find.

"There is a political, economic, diplomatic and media campaign against Venezuela to create a sophisticated operation in the region that can end up in high-intensity military conflicts," Maduro told the parliament.

He decided to reduce the size of the embassy to Guyana, conduct a review of the relations, and asked Guyana to immediately revoke its permission for U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil to operate in the disputed Essequibo River region.

While being tough to the so-called enemies, the 16-year socialist government of Venezuela has kept tender and ever closer relations its traditional friends.

When the tension with the United States ran high in March, Cuba spearheaded most Latin American countries to rally behind Venezuela.

In mid-June, Venezuela sent its navy scholar ship Simon Bolivar to Havana to celebrate the 10th anniversary of PetroCaribe, a trade program created by Hugo Chavez to keep the region dependent on the country for oil.

Also called "Ambassador without Frontiers," the vessel was on its 27th cruise to connect the member countries of PetroCaribe, which was created in 2005 as part of the efforts to counter U.S. influence in the region.

The project provides oil and refined products at market prices, but only requires member countries to pay only a small portion of the cost in advance and allows them to finance the rest under generous long-term debt agreements, as well as to barter for agricultural products or services.

With the ice on the American side to melt and the sunshine from its old friends heating up, the ruling Socialist Party of Venezuela is apparently poised to secure its majority status in the legislative elections in December and ensure Maduro with a smooth term till 2019.

Meanwhile, in regard to its largest oil reserve in the world and the lifeblood status of oil in its economy, Venezuela is widely expected to benefit greatly from an anticipated oil price rise in early 2016, which may help lift the country out of economic woes in the near future.

On the diplomatic front, being "tough but smart" works well for its detente with the United States. The fact that Venezuela has been one of the top five oil suppliers of foreign oil to the United States is surely to benefit the ending of their series of tit-for-tat steps, and will hopefully fuel the U.S. intention to enhance its ties with Latin America, especially with Venezuela after Cuba. Endi