Venezuela has announced the recovery of control over its diplomatic representations in the United States. This decision would benefit the nearly one million Venezuelan migrants living in the U.S., allowing them, for example, to obtain or renew their passports.
The announcement comes days after the Donald Trump administration relaxed sanctions imposed on Venezuela to facilitate the embassy's reopening, marking a new step in the restoration of relations between the two countries.
The Department of the Treasury issued a license that lifts some restrictions on the Venezuelan government's missions in the U.S. and on Venezuela's missions to international organizations based in the United States.
Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces on January 3rd in Caracas, the Trump administration and the government of interim President Delcy Rodríguez have drawn closer, and in early March, they formally reestablished diplomatic relations, broken since 2019.
The Venezuelan government has retaken control of its diplomatic headquarters in the United States, as announced this Saturday by a group of officials sent by the interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, on an official visit to Washington.
Chargé d'affaires for Venezuela to the U.S., Felix Plasencia, stated in a post on the X platform that his government "recovered" the Venezuelan consulate buildings and that they will be "rehabilitated" to serve "all Venezuelans."
The U.S. took temporary control of the Venezuelan embassy and the country's consulate buildings in 2023 following the dissolution of the "interim government", led by opposition figure Juan Guaidó, whom Washington recognized as the legitimate president of the South American nation.
The State Department has not yet confirmed this transfer of control.
