Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said Wednesday he is willing to mend broken diplomatic relations with neighboring Colombia by restoring consular services amid a standoff stemming from the capture of a fugitive lawmaker.
Police in
Venezuela this week arrested Aída Merlano, a former senator in Colombia who escaped jailers to evade a 15-year
prison sentence on a conviction including
election fraud and weapons charges.
With guards waiting outside while she underwent a dental procedure, she slipped down a rope from the third-story window and then made her way across the border into Venezuela.