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CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s ambassador returned to Washington on Friday as the nations moved to repair strained diplomatic ties, but the sides are not completely ready to bury the hatchet.

Upon arriving in the United States, Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez called the countries’ decision to restore top-level diplomatic envoys the “first step in normalizing relations.” U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy is expected to arrive in Caracas next week.