Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Elias Jaua holds a press conference in Mexico City, Monday, Nov. 4, 2013. Jaua says efforts to re-establish diplomatic relations between his country and the United States remain frozen. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Venezuela’s foreign minister says efforts to re-establish diplomatic relations between his country and the United States remain frozen.
Elias Jaua says relations won’t improve as long as the United States keeps up what Venezuela’s government considers “interventionist activities,” including spying on foreign leaders.
Jaua said at a news conference in Mexico City that he isn’t surprised the United States spied on the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He says the acknowledgment to The New York Times by the U.S. government make it difficult for Venezuela to have a good relationship with Washington.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Jaua had agreed to meet last June to work on restoring relations, but new tensions arose and they didn’t follow up.
