Venezuela, US Relations To Improve Following Release Of American Prisoner, Says John Kerry

John Kerry the Secretary of State to the United States spoke with the Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua about improving the relationship between the two countries.

The Venezuelan government was angry over the fact that the U.S. did not formally recognize Nicolas Maduro as President when he succeeded the late Hugo Chavez. President Obama supports Henrique Capriles (who ran against Maduro) in his demand for a recount.

Tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela escalated when American filmmaker Timothy Tracy was put in a Venezuelan prison on suspicion of being a spy. When President Obama visited Latin America in May he called the allegations against Tracy "ridiculous." This angered the Venezuelan government even more, who accused the U.S. of "imperialist meddling." Reuters says this accusation against the U.S. was a staple during Chavez's rule.

In an effort to get Timothy Tracy out of jail his family hired William Delahunt as Timothy's lawyer. Delahunt is a U.S. Representative who has, for a long time, been trying to cease hostilities between the nations.

"On both sides there is a desire to have an improvement in the relationship based upon respect, and that's what's important," Delahunt said in an interview with USA Today.

On Wednesday the Venezuelan government released Timothy Tracy from jail. Following the release Kerry met with Jaua in Guatemala and spoke about a number of different ways diplomatic relations between Venezuela and the US could be improved. The last time either country sent diplomats to either capital was in 2010.

"We agreed today, both of us that we would like to see out countries find a new way forward," Kerry told reporters. "To that end, we agreed today there will be an ongoing, continuing dialogue between the State Department and the Foreign Ministry, and we will try to set out an agenda by which we agree on things we can work together."

The BBC reports Kerry as saying "the U.S. wants to begin to change the dialogue between our countries and hopefully quickly move the appointments of ambassadors between our nations."

The Washington Post is reporting that despite the U.S.' desire to improve relations and begin a new diplomatic chapter with Venezuela they have not stopped expressing worry about human rights and democratic policy in the country.