BERLIN (AP) — The German government says the country's ambassador to Venezuela has returned to Caracas, 4 ½ months after Venezuelan authorities ordered him to leave.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Rainer Breul said Monday that ambassador Daniel Kriener returned to Venezuela on Saturday. Venezuela previously withdrew its classification of Kriener as persona non grata.

Kriener and some other diplomats greeted opposition leader Juan Guaidó, whom Germany and many other countries recognize as Venezuela's interim president, when he returned to Venezuela from a trip abroad in early March. The government ordered him to leave and Germany said it was recalling him to Berlin for consultations.

Breul stressed that "our political position on the issue of Venezuela is unchanged" and said that Guaidó wanted Kriener to return.