Paraguay and Venezuela have decided to reestablish diplomatic ties, the Paraguayan foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, after the South American countries broke off relations nearly five years ago.

Formal diplomatic ties were severed in January 2019, when Paraguay recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president.

Following talks between Paraguay’s recently-elected President Santiago Peña and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolás Maduro, the ministry said ambassadors should be formally accredited in the coming days.

“Both parties have committed to restart bilateral relations with complete respect to the fundamental principles of equal rights, the self-determination of peoples, non-intervention in internal affairs of other states and of solidarity,” according to the statement.

Peña, a 44-year-old economist, scored a strong win in April elections and helped the Colorado Party, the dominant political force for the last three-quarters of a century, secure a majority in both chambers of Congress. He was sworn into office in August.

-Reuters