MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — As the president of Miami-Dade-based Independent Venezuelan American Citizens, or IVAC, Ernesto Ackerman said he felt hopeful.

The U.S. and Venezuela agreed to re-establish diplomatic and consular relations, and Nicolás Maduro remained behind bars in New York.

“If we have an embassy, maybe we can have visas again,” Ackerman said about the reopening of the U.S. embassy in Caracas, which closed in 2019.

U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum recently met with interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez in Caracas.

“I’m feeling ⁠very optimistic about an environment where investment is going to flow, not just to offshore oil and gas, not just to Caracas, but actually to the interior where these enormous resources exist,” Burgum said.

There was progress for U.S. mining and minerals companies and clearing the path for capital investments, Burgum said.

“I think you’re going to see this government very concerned about providing the right kind of security," Burgum said.

Ackerman is hopeful that elections are in Venezuela’s future and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, the symbol of Venezuela’s democratic opposition, will be able to run for the presidency.

“Yes, María Corina has to return,” Ackerman said. “But, I don’t think it’s the moment.”

Machado and her supporters released and shared a video on March 1 calling for the opposition to organize and saying that she planned to return to Venezuela in the coming weeks.

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