Western Hemisphere
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is willing to visit the United States if invited by his US counterpart Barack Obama, said on June 26 Venezuelan Ambassador upon his arrival back in Washington to bring bilateral diplomatic relations back to normal.

"Of course he will come (to the US)," Alvarez told reporters at the Washington airport, where he praised the end of the crisis between the two countries, Efe reported.

The diplomat conceded he hopes to forge a new relation between the two countries as "the continent is changing, and it would be mean not to understand that the United States has experienced a big change."

The reinstatement of ambassadors, according to Alvarez, is "a first step to bring relations back to normal by restoring political and diplomatic relations to the level of ambassadors and resuming bilateral relations in spaces such as energy cooperation."

Further, Álvarez stressed the "historic significance" of Chávez' and Obama's move to rescind the declarations of persona non grata to the diplomatic envoys.

However, he reminded that there are some issues pending between the two countries, including the case of Cuban activist Luis Posada Carriles, a resident of the United States whom Cuba and Venezuela accuse of blowing up a Cubana de Aviación aircraft, where 73 people were killed.

Meanwhile, Ian Kelly, US State Department spokesman, said that the reinstatement of ambassadors "will help advance US interests by improving bilateral communication and enhancing our outreach to the Venezuelan people."

Kelly added that US Ambassador Patrick Duddy would return to Caracas in the next few days.