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The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, announced this Tuesday that a Venezuelan diplomatic delegation will travel to Washington this week to formalize the beginning of a new phase of bilateral relations with the United States.
The announcement was made during a meeting with investors broadcasted by the state channel Venezolana de Televisión. "This week, a delegation of diplomats will be departing for Washington to begin this new phase of relationships and diplomatic, political dialogue between our governments," Rodríguez stated, according to the agency EFE.
The delegation will be led by Félix Plasencia, appointed on February 2 as the diplomatic representative of Venezuela to the United States. Plasencia has been a career diplomat since 1991 with an extensive background: he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2021 and 2022, as well as ambassador to China, Colombia, and the United Kingdom, in addition to being Minister of Tourism and Foreign Trade.
The delegation's deployment occurs in the context of the formal restoration of diplomatic ties agreed upon on March 5, following a break that began in early 2019, when Washington recognized Juan Guaidó as interim president and Maduro expelled U.S. diplomats.
Since then, the thaw has progressed rapidly. On March 9, President Donald Trump announced the formal recognition of Rodríguez's interim government. On March 14, the U.S. raised its flag at the embassy in Caracas for the first time in seven years, and Rodríguez promised that Venezuela would do the same in Washington "very soon."
Last Thursday, Rodríguez hosted Laura Dogu, the Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S., along with a delegation of senators from the Foreign Relations Committee, at the Palace of Miraflores.
This diplomatic approach has been accompanied by high-level visits from Washington, including representatives linked to the energy sector, the head of the CIA, and the head of Southern Command, within the context of U.S. interest in Venezuelan oil. Trump praised Rodríguez on March 4 as "the president of Venezuela" for her "great work" in energy cooperation, emphasizing that Venezuelan oil "is beginning to flow."
In the same meeting with investors, Rodríguez reiterated his request for an end to the sanctions against Venezuela. "We have asked President Trump for investors, not only for Venezuela, to lift the sanctions against Venezuela, against its economy," he emphasized.
All this process unfolds after the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on January 3 in Caracas, during the U.S. military operation carried out by Delta Force with CIA support. Both were transferred to New York, where they face federal charges of narcoterrorism and drug trafficking, and they pleaded not guilty during their first appearance on January 5.
Within the internal framework, the interim government has taken steps to distance itself from chavismo: it closed El Helicoide and converted it into a community center, approved an amnesty law for political prisoners, eliminated seven chavista missions, and dismissed Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López on March 18.
The second judicial hearing of Maduro and Flores before Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York is scheduled for next Thursday, March 26, and serves as the legal backdrop for this entire diplomatic reconfiguration.
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