Caracas Venezuela Will Host U.S. Diplomats to Explore Reopening its Embassy in Venezuela
The United States government confirmed to the media on Friday that it has sent a delegation of diplomats to Caracas in charge of relations with Venezuela to explore the possibility of reopening the US embassy in the Caribbean country following the operation that captured President Nicolás Maduro on January 3. “On January 9, U.S. diplomatic and security personnel from the U.S. External Office for Venezuela (VAU), including Chargé d’Affaires John T. McNamara, traveled to Caracas to conduct an initial assessment with a view to a possible gradual resumption of operations,” a State Department official explained.
US President Donald Trump said last Sunday, a day after the mission that captured Maduro and took him to New York to be tried for narco-terrorism, that Washington is already thinking about reopening the US embassy in the Caribbean country. The embassy, located in Baruta, in the metropolitan district of Caracas, closed in 2019 after Nicolás Maduro himself declared bilateral relations with the United States broken. Since then, Washington has handled matters related to the South American country from its U.S. External Office for Venezuela, which is located at its embassy in Bogotá. After arresting Maduro, Trump has for the moment ruled out the main leaders of the Venezuelan opposition and opted for an interim government led by the Chavista Delcy Rodríguez pictured above right, now acting president, to run Venezuela under Washington’s management, which, he said, could last for years.
President Donald Trump Says he’ll Meet with Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado Next Week
This would be President Donald Trump’s first meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. The president has previously said it would be ‘tough’ for opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to lead Venezuela after he removed Nicolas Maduro. Machado has been in hiding due to persistent threats on her life, emerging only briefly in Oslo after a three-day mission in which she was smuggled out of the country with the help of the U.S. military for the Nobel ceremony. Trump stated “I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her.”
