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The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, held a meeting this Monday with the new U.S. chargé d'affaires in the country, Laura Dogu, who arrived in Caracas on Saturday to reopen the U.S. diplomatic mission, closed for seven years following the break in bilateral relations in 2019.
The meeting took place at the Miraflores Palace and was confirmed through a post on X by the Venezuelan Minister of Communication, Miguel Ángel Pérez Pirela, who shared photographs of the meeting and noted that it was part of a "working agenda" between the two countries, without providing further details about the discussions.
Dogu arrived in Caracas on Saturday
Laura Dogu arrived on January 31 at Simón Bolívar International Airport, accompanied by other U.S. officials, and expressed on social media that she was "ready to work." Her arrival marks an important step in the diplomatic rapprochement process between Washington and Caracas.
Dogu was appointed on January 22 as the head of the Venezuela Affairs Unit, an office that had previously operated from Bogotá.
According to the United States Embassy, Dogu will work with stakeholders from the public sector, private sector, and civil society as part of a three-phase plan driven by the State Department.
Diplomatic resumption after years of severance
The reopening of the mission comes after years of tension and diplomatic isolation, amid a new political phase in Venezuela following the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in early January, according to international reports.
The meeting between Rodríguez and Dogu represents one of the most significant diplomatic contacts between the United States and Venezuela in nearly a decade, in a context where both countries seek to advance a roadmap based—according to the official discourse—on mutual respect and international law.
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