The newly appointed U.S. Charge d’Affaires to Venezuela, Laura Dogu, arrived in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Saturday (January 31), marking a gradual restoration of bilateral relations between the United States and Venezuela after seven years of diplomatic rupture.
In a post on the social media platform X after landing at the Maiquetía Airport in Caracas that afternoon, Dogu expressed, “I have just arrived in Venezuela, and my team and I are ready to begin our work.”
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil later posted on Telegram that he had welcomed Dogu at the capital’s airport. This diplomatic move aims to “develop a work blueprint on issues of mutual concern”, with both sides stating that they will address their differences through diplomatic dialogue based on mutual respect and international law.
Since the diplomatic break due to political disagreements in 2019, the U.S. Embassy in Caracas has remained vacant for an extended period. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last Wednesday (January 28) that the United States has initiated preparations to restore the operation of the Venezuelan embassy, including deploying temporary personnel and conducting facility assessments.
According to the official website of the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, Dogu is a seasoned career diplomat well-versed in Spanish and has served in various positions in Latin America. She has previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras and Nicaragua and held the position of Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.
This recent diplomatic action by the U.S. comes after significant political upheaval in Venezuela. On January 3, U.S. forces carried out a special operation, capturing then-President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and extraditing them to New York, where they face multiple criminal charges related to drugs and weapons.
Following Maduro’s arrest, his Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez, was recognized by the U.S. as the interim leader and implemented various domestic reform measures. These measures include signing a large-scale political amnesty law, closing the notorious political prisoner jail and torture center “El Helicoide,” transforming it into a community facility, among other policies.
The U.S. State Department has confirmed that there are currently no known cases of U.S. citizens being unlawfully detained in Venezuela, and individuals involved in relevant cases have been released and safely returned to the United States. The State Department has not disclosed specific details about the process.