India, Jan. 17 -- WASHINGTON, Jan 16 - The CIA director held talks in Caracas with Venezuela's acting president Thursday, as the country's opposition leader prepared to detail her White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, signaling a rapid recalibration of U.S. policy toward the South American nation following a military intervention earlier this month.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Venezuela's interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez, marking the highest-level known contact since U.S. forces captured socialist President Nicolas Maduro and his wife on January 3. The same day, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado met with Trump in Washington, presenting him with her Nobel Peace Prize medal.

The sudden diplomatic ac...