Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro mentioned in an interview broadcast Sunday that he’s prepared to work in the direction of normalizing relations with the USA, regardless of the continued sanctions crippling his nation.

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Maduro’s remarks come days after the South American nation’s opposition voted to dissolve an “interim authorities” led by Juan Guaido, who had been acknowledged by many international locations — together with the USA — as Venezuela’s professional chief following disputed 2018 elections.

“Venezuela is prepared, completely prepared, to take steps in the direction of a strategy of normalization of diplomatic, consular and political relations with the present administration of the USA and with administrations to come back,” Maduro mentioned in an interview broadcast on Venezuelan state tv.

Maduro broke off relations with Washington in 2019, when the administration of then-president Donald Trump acknowledged Guaido as Venezuela’s “interim president.”

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In an try and power Maduro out of workplace, the USA launched a battery of sanctions in opposition to Venezuela, together with an oil embargo.

Though the administration of present US President Joe Biden maintains a coverage of not formally recognizing the Maduro authorities, final yr it despatched delegates to Caracas to fulfill with him and negotiate prisoner exchanges, amongst different subjects.

“We’re ready for dialogue on the highest degree, for relations of respect, and I want a beam of sunshine would come to the USA of America, they might flip the web page and go away their extremist coverage apart and are available to extra pragmatic insurance policies with respect to Venezuela,” Maduro mentioned.

Three of the 4 main events in Venezuela’s opposition-controlled Nationwide Meeting voted on Friday to finish the interim authorities led by Guaido.

The physique, elected in 2015, is now largely symbolic because it was changed by a legislature loyal to Maduro, although it nonetheless retains management over a few of Venezuela’s property overseas.

After negotiations restarted in Mexico between the opposition and the Maduro authorities in late November, Washington responded by granting a six-month license to US power big Chevron to function in Venezuela.