In an interview with the newspaper Corriere della Sera, published Tuesday, the Italian Foreign Minister stated that contacts between the two sides have become increasingly intense in recent days, referring to his telephone conversation last Sunday with his counterpart, Yvan Gil.

The two ministers discussed the Venezuelan government’s decision to release several Italian citizens, a matter considered a high priority by Rome, and also addressed the state of diplomatic relations, after which they agreed to elevate their respective diplomatic missions to the rank of ambassador.

Since 2019, both nations had maintained only a chargé d’affaires at their embassies, reflecting a limited level of diplomatic representation. Therefore, this new agreement represents a significant shift in bilateral relations.

“In practice, we are certainly trying to rebuild better relations with a country that is strategic for us, because one million Venezuelans are of Italian descent, 170,000 hold Italian passports, and Venezuela is a political priority, where we have geopolitical interests as well as industrial and economic ones,” Tajani stated.

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