The IMF and the World Bank said they would resume relations with Venezuela for the first time in six years, a major breakthrough for the Latin American country as it looks to rebuild its economy.
The resumption of relations comes just months after Washington ousted Venezuela’s former president and replaced him with a more pliant leader, and could unlock billions of dollars in financing for Caracas, analysts said.
While Venezuelans have become more bullish on the state of their economy since the US intervention, some observers say real prosperity won’t be achieved without fundamental political freedoms, which many are still fighting for: “Venezuelans have not given up on democracy,” Harvard professor Ricardo Hausmann wrote in The Economist.