MARACAY, Venezuela - Venezuela and the United States are restoring their ambassadors withdrawn amid a diplomatic spat in September, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday.

The normalization of diplomatic ties "will take place in the coming days, and as soon as the ambassadors have resumed their functions we will move forward to a more fluid communication," Maduro told reporters.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a summit here of the regional trade group ALBA led by leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

During a Summit of the Americas in Trinidad in April, Chavez expressed his wish to return his country's ambassador to the United States.

In September, Chavez expelled Patrick Duddy, the top US envoy in Caracas in solidarity with Bolivia, after Bolivian President Evo Morales accused the US ambassador of plotting against his government.

Venezuela's move then led Washington to expel the Venezuelan ambassador to the US, Bernardo Alvarez.

Chavez, who met US President Barack Obama for the first time at the Trinidad summit in April, said he then hoped to begin a "new era" in relations between the two countries, which have often feuded over Washington's role in Latin America.

The news of the restoration of Venezuela-US ties came as a US official confirmed that Washington planned to reappoint an ambassador to Damascus after a four-year absence.