THE CUBA FRUIT IS EVEN LOWER HANGING:

Senior US officials have flown to Venezuela for rare talks with Nicolás Maduro's government in an apparent bid to prise the South American country away from its Russian backers after Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. [...]

Reuters said no agreement was reached at Saturday's talks. However, some experts believe the encounter could signal a significant shift in US policy towards the crisis-stricken South American country, which has been plunged into humanitarian and political crisis since Maduro took power in 2013.

Christopher Sabatini, a senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House, said the US's precise objectives were unclear although damaging Russian interests and multi-billion dollar investments in Venezuela was likely high on the list.

"Clearly, they want to really try to blunt Russia's influence in the hemisphere. They don't want any projections of power," Sabatini said, adding: "This is also an opportunity to get the US private sector back into Venezuela and squeeze out the Russians."

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