Top US General Dan Caine visits Venezuela five months after Maduro's capture

Top US general Dan Caine visited Venezuela on Wednesday and met with leaders of the interim government, five months after American forces seized the country's president, his office said.

Caine, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, "emphasized the importance of Venezuelan stability, shared security across the Western Hemisphere, and the Joint Force's commitment to ensuring the implementation" of the US plan for Venezuela, said spokesman Joe Holstead.

The general is the latest US official to visit Venezuela since Nicolas Maduro was toppled in a lightning raid in early January and taken to New York to stand trial.

US President Donald Trump's administration has since eased sanctions on Venezuela, while Caracas has passed reforms to its hydrocarbons and mining sectors to open them to private investment.

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Caine also visited the recently reopened US embassy in Caracas, his spokesperson said.

Caine did not meet with interim president Delcy Rodriguez, who departed earlier Wednesday for India, her first international state visit since ascending to the top leadership spot after Maduro's ouster.

"The United States is committed to a stable, prosperous, and democratic Venezuela aligned with the United States," Holstead's statement added.