Hi there, it's Jason Palmer here, co-host of The Intelligence, our daily news and current affairs podcast.
This is Editor's Picks.
You're about to hear an article from the latest edition of The Economist read aloud.
Enjoy.
Both the plane in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, and the strange, unsettled state of the country hits you immediately.
Wanted posters for Edmundo González, the real winner of the stolen presidential election in 2024,
loom at the end of the bridge from the plain.
He lives in exile in Spain.
The immigration booths are labelled not just in English and Spanish,
but also Arabic, Chinese and Russian, highly unusual in Latin America.
A besuited man brandishing an American passport is ushered past by obliging immigration guards.
Three months ago, Americans were the arch-imperial enemy.
And then they seized Nicolás Maduro, the authoritarian president, and his wife in a bloody raid.
Yet the same regime, minus its old head, is now all hugs and handshakes with Americans.
The surreal feeling is widespread.
Prior to the reopening of the old embassy on March 30th,
the US mission was largely operating from the 17th floor of the JW Marriott Hotel.
Its members have been, to some extent, running the country.
A sweaty American taking the lift up from the gym might be as powerful as a government minister.
Looming over motorways are giant photos of Mr Maduro hugging his wife, with the tagline, Los queremos de vuelta.