US Ambassador Arrives in Venezuela to Reopen Diplomatic Mission

On January 22, the Donald Trump administration appointed Dogu as head of the delegation for Venezuelan Affairs, which had been based in Colombia until now. Ambassador Laura Dogu arrived in Caracas this Saturday to reopen the U.S. diplomatic mission in Venezuela, which has been closed for seven years following the rupture of diplomatic relations between the two countries. According to the State Department, Laura Dogu, in addition to being head of the delegation for Venezuelan Affairs, is a foreign policy advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine. Venezuela and the United States severed relations in 2019, after the first Trump administration recognized opposition deputy Juan Guaidó as the interim president of the South American country. Dogu will serve as head of the delegation for Venezuelan Affairs and will work with individuals from the public and private sectors, as well as with civil society, to promote a three-phase plan established by the U.S. government. Following this announcement, the Maduro government then expelled James Story, who had been serving as head of the delegation in Caracas, as well as the rest of the U.S. diplomatic corps. for Venezuela, which is located in its embassy in Bogotá. This unit is the office of the State Department responsible for managing relations with Venezuela since the suspension of operations at the Embassy in Caracas in 2019. The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela shared, through its X account, two photographs of Dogu descending from the plane at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, which serves the Venezuelan capital. As the first month of the capture of President Nicolás Maduro by the United States approaches, relations with the Caribbean nation enter a new phase with the reopening of the U.S. diplomatic mission. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio established a three-phase plan for Venezuela marked by a first stage of stabilization, another of recovery, and finally democratic transition. Dogu succeeds John McNamara, who had been head of the delegation since February 2025, and who traveled to the Venezuelan capital last month to address with the authorities of that country the possible resumption of embassy operations. On January 9, the Rodriguez caretaker government announced the beginning of an 'exploratory diplomatic process' with the United States, aimed at 'the restoration of diplomatic missions in both countries' and to address the consequences of what they consider the 'kidnapping' of Maduro and his wife, Cila Flores, captured on January 3 in a U.S. military operation on Venezuelan soil. Since then, Washington has managed everything related to the oil-producing country from its U.S. External Office.