MIAMI - U.S. Ambassador and Charge d’Affaires Laura Dogu arrived in Caracas on Saturday to reopen the U.S. embassy in Venezuela and resume diplomatic relations with the South American pariah state, one month after the fall of Nicolás Maduro.
The United States government and Venezuela mutually severed relations in February 2019 after the first Trump administration formally recognized then-opposition candidate, Juan Guaidó.
Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s no. 2 in command, said in a statement in January that by reopening the U.S. embassy in Caracas, the Venezuelan government would have a way of observing the fair treatment of the now deposed dictator Maduro, who faces federal trafficking and conspiracy charges, and is awaiting trial at the New York Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
On Monday, Ambassador Dogu and Interim President Delcy Rodríguez met at Miraflores Palace in Caracas for the first time. Venezuela’s Communications Minister, Miguel Pérez Pirela, said the meeting took place “in the context of the working agenda.”
Dogu stated on Saturday, upon her arrival in the country, that she and her team “are ready to work” to reopen diplomatic dialogue and begin a new phase in U.S.-Venezuelan relations.
Dogu has past diplomatic experience working as the U.S. ambassador to Honduras under the Biden administration, and as U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua under former President Obama and the second Trump administration.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil was the first high-ranking Venezuelan official to meet with Dogu, writing that both governments are working to resume discussion in order to find common ground on “issues of bilateral interest.”
On Monday, Gil also announced that Félix Plasencia will be charged with representing the Venezuelan government in the United States and is preparing for a trip to Washington, D.C. in the coming days.
Dogu’s arrival in Caracas on Saturday came one day after Acting President Rodríguez issued a major announcement before the National Assembly and the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal to present a bill for a general amnesty for all political prisoners held in detention facilities.
The bill would also facilitate the official closure of Venezuela’s notorious torture centre ‘El Helicoide’, which will be converted into a sports complex in Caracas, according to the government.
