US Reopens Embassy in Venezuela

The United States has resumed operations at its embassy in Caracas, the State Department announced on Monday.

The move ends a seven-year hiatus. Ambassador Laura F. Dogu, who arrived in Caracas in January as charge d’affaires, is now leading efforts on the ground. Her team is restoring the chancery building to accommodate the full return of personnel and the eventual restart of consular services.

The reopening is a key milestone in implementing the president’s three-phase plan for Venezuela. It will allow direct engagement with the country’s interim government, civil society, and private sector, the department said in a statement.

The development comes just months after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a U.S. military operation to capture Maduro and bring him back to the United States to face federal criminal charges related to drug trafficking.

The operation cleared the way for an interim government under Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodríguez and opened the door to the restoration of diplomatic ties.

Weeks later, on Jan. 31, Dogu arrived in Venezuela to resume diplomatic engagement after the long interruption. By mid-March, the U.S. flag was raised over the embassy compound in Caracas for the first time in exactly seven years.

Diplomatic relations between Washington and Caracas had been frozen for years under Maduro’s rule.

The embassy in Caracas has been shuttered since March 2019, when ties were severed during Trump’s first term after the United States, along with multiple other countries, recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate president amid allegations of election fraud. For the next seven years, the United States conducted diplomatic business through the Venezuela Affairs Unit in Bogotá, Colombia. Monday’s announcement formally ends that arrangement.

The situation changed dramatically after the January military operation. The capture of Maduro and the establishment of an interim government prompted both countries to explore restoring diplomatic relations.

The State Department said the resumption of operations at the embassy was a key milestone in implementing Trump’s three‑phase plan for Venezuela.

Trump announced in January that the United States would manage Venezuela through a transitional period. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since outlined that this transitional process entails transfers of Venezuelan oil under a U.S.-managed mechanism and the opening of the South American country to international business ventures. Rubio said the transition plan also includes a reconciliation process for Venezuela’s anti-Maduro opposition movement, as many of its leaders were being held as political prisoners and have since been released.