{"id":246989,"date":"2026-02-02T08:12:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T12:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/?p=246989"},"modified":"2026-02-02T09:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T13:15:18","slug":"dominican-republic-and-venezuela-move-to-restore-diplomatic-ties-and-air-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/2026\/02\/02\/dominican-republic-and-venezuela-move-to-restore-diplomatic-ties-and-air-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"Dominican Republic and Venezuela move to restore diplomatic ties and air travel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The governments of the Dominican Republic and Venezuela announced a significant breakthrough in bilateral relations on Sunday, 1 February 2026, confirming the imminent reopening of consular services and the restoration of direct commercial flights between the two nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move marks a turning point in a diplomatic freeze that began in 2024, when relations were severed following the disputed Venezuelan presidential elections. According to a joint statement issued from Caracas, the decision was reached through coordinated efforts to assist citizens residing in both countries and to restore regional connectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the new agreement, the Dominican consulate in Caracas and the Venezuelan consulate in Santo Domingo will resume operations in the coming days. This reactivation is expected to clear a massive backlog of visa applications, legalizations, and other migratory procedures that have been paralyzed for nearly two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In tandem with the diplomatic reopening, civil aviation authorities in both countries have been instructed to begin the immediate process of re-establishing commercial flight routes. The suspension of these flights since 2024 had forced travelers to rely on expensive, multi-stop connections through third countries, significantly impacting trade and the large Venezuelan diaspora living in the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signs of a thaw in relations had been brewing since late 2025. In October, Dominican President Luis Abinader issued Decree 573-25, appointing retired Major General Jaime Marte Mart\u00ednez as the new Consul General in Caracas. Though the decree was signed on 1 October 2025, it was officially gazetted later that month, signaling the Dominican government\u2019s preparation for this weekend\u2019s formal announcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The diplomatic rift occurred in mid-2024 when the Dominican Republic joined several other nations in questioning the transparency of Venezuela\u2019s electoral process. In response, the Maduro administration suspended flights and withdrew diplomatic staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The joint statement characterized this latest development as a “significant step toward the normalization of bilateral relations,” prioritizing humanitarian and logistical needs over the political differences that led to the initial breakdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ministry of Foreign Relations had earlier announced it did not recognize the government of acting President Delcy Rodriguez after the departure of Maduro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more in Spanish:
Noticias SIN <\/a>
Diario Libre <\/a>
DR1 News <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 February 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The governments of the Dominican Republic and Venezuela announced a significant breakthrough in bilateral relations on Sunday, 1 February 2026, confirming the imminent reopening of consular services and the restoration of direct commercial flights between the two nations. The move marks a turning point in a diplomatic freeze that began in 2024, when relations were … <\/p>\n

Read more\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[340,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246989"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247030,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246989\/revisions\/247030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}