No one was a bigger supporter of America's regime change policy for Venezuela than Colombia's far-right government.
And then Colombia elected its first leftist president, Gustavo Petro, and everything changed.

As recently as January 2022, this was the story from that part of the world.

At least 27 people died in fighting between armed Colombian groups on Sunday, January 2, in Arauca, a region in eastern Colombia on the border with Venezuela. Although soldiers were deployed to this rural area, residents say they feel trapped and abandoned. They say they are living in a "climate of terror", with some hiding at home, while others have decided to flee.

The fighting was between members of the National Liberation Army (ELN), the last guerrilla group still active in the country, and members of a dissident faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which broke a peace agreement with the government in 2016. The groups are fighting for control of both territory and cocaine smuggling routes.

Then Petro won the election and he started doing things that Washington didn't want him to do.

Venezuela will seek to reestablish its military ties with neighbor Colombia, the country's defense minister said on Tuesday, after years of conflictive relations between the two nations.

With military cooperation established, security returned to the border. Petro restarted peace talks with rebels after the previous right-wing government intentionally broke the peace agreements. One rebel group even announced a unilateral cease fire.

Next thing you know, good things began happening at the border.

In a major meeting of more than 200 businessmen from Colombia and Venezuela, both sides will seek to strengthen their relationship after a strict border ordinance disallowed them to exchange goods.
The meeting, held in Cúcuta, was also attended by 32 mayors of the capitals of Colombia.

Suddenly people who haven't had steady work in years because of the closed border, started getting jobs. Airflights resumed between the two nations.
Venezuela's inflation has moderated, investors are returning, and Venezuelan exiles are beginning to return home.
And of course, diplomatic relations were resumed.
Even Yahoo News had to acknowledge that Venezuela is no longer as isolated as it once was.

Like many tyrants, Mr Maduro hails democracy when it works to his liking. “New times are coming,” he tweeted shortly after the victory of Mr Petro, a guerrilla-turned-senator, in June.

In other words, it's a diplomatic nightmare for Washington, and its only been a couple months.