New US charge d’affaires arrives in Venezuela to reopen diplomatic mission after 7 years

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CARACAS (AP) — U.S. charge d’affaires Laura Dogu arrived in Caracas on Saturday to reopen the American diplomatic mission in Venezuela after seven years of severed ties.

The move comes almost one month after a military action ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump removed the South American country's then-leader Nicolás Maduro from office.

“My team and I are ready to work,” Dogu said in a message posted by the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela 's account on X. It also posted pictures of her upon her landing at Maiquetia airport.

Venezuela and the United States broke off diplomatic relations in February 2019 in a decision by Maduro. They closed their embassies mutually after Trump gave public support to lawmaker Juan Guaidó who claimed to be the nation’s interim president in January that year.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, one of Venezuela's most powerful politicians and a Maduro loyalist, said earlier in January that reopening the U.S. embassy would give the Venezuelan government a way to oversee the treatment of the deposed president, who is jailed in the U.S.

Venezuela's foreign minister Yván Gil said in a message on Telegram that Dogu's arrival is part of a joint schedule to “deal with and resolve existing differences through diplomatic dialogue, in a foundation of mutual respect and (based on) international law.”

Dogu, who was previously ambassador in Nicaragua and Honduras, arrived in Venezuela one day after the country's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, announced an amnesty bill to release political prisoners. That move was one of the key demands of the Venezuelan opposition.

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This story has been corrected to show that Dogu's title is charge d’affaires, not ambassador.