Caracas, July 2 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Venezuelan Ombudsman Tarek William Saab called the visit of U.S. Senator Bob Corker to the country “positive,” welcoming the effort to alleviate the tensions between the two countries.

“It has been a meeting of courtesy where the Ombudsman's office had the chance to dialogue in a constructive way on issues related to the development of democracy, the full application of human rights in our country, regardless of the current situation...,” said the state official.

Both officials talked about the “search for dialogue, debate, and peace as a mechanism to reduce differences between Venezuelan citizens.”

Corker is opposed the U.S. bill that sanctioned Venezuelan state officials, and “respects national sovereignty,” Saab said. The senator's visit represented an important step on the road to lessen tensions, he emphasized. “Senator Bob Corker knew our position as defenders of human rights and mediators between all parties,” Saab wrote on his Twitter account.

On the same day, a U.S. senior state official told Reuters that both countries had launched their most extensive dialogue attempt since the beginning of the Bolivarian Revolution, claiming the process was still at an early stage.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had made the first move in March, asking a “direct channel of communication” with U.S. President Barack Obama during the most tense moments of their diplomatic relations – Washington issued a presidential decree declaring Venezuela a “threat” to the United States in order to later impose sanctions on top Venezuelan officials.

Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will also be meeting opposition leaders as part of an investigative mission.