New US charge d’affaires arrives in Venezuela to reopen diplomatic mission after 7 years

CARACAS– US charge d’affaires Laura Dogu arrived in Caracas on Saturday to reopen the US diplomatic mission in Venezuela after seven years of severed ties.

The move comes nearly a month after a military action ordered by US President Donald Trump removed Nicolas Maduro, then leader of the South American country, from office.

“My team and I are ready to work,” Dogu said in a message posted on the X account of the US embassy in Venezuela. He also posted photos of her landing at Maiquetia airport.

Venezuela and the United States severed diplomatic relations in February 2019 at Maduro’s decision. They mutually closed their embassies after Trump publicly threw his support behind lawmaker Juan Guaidó claiming to be the country’s interim president in January of that year.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, one of Venezuela’s most powerful politicians and a Maduro loyalist, said earlier in January that reopening the U.S. embassy would give the Venezuelan government a way to oversee the treatment of the deposed president, imprisoned in the United States.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil said in a Telegram message that Dogu’s arrival was part of a joint program aimed at “addressing and resolving existing disputes through diplomatic dialogue, on a basis of mutual respect and (based on) international law.”

Dogu, who previously served as ambassador to Nicaragua and Honduras, arrived in Venezuela a day after the country’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, announced an amnesty bill aimed at freeing political prisoners. This decision was one of the main demands of the Venezuelan opposition.

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This story has been corrected to show that Dogu’s title is charge d’affaires, not ambassador.