The Trump administration has notified Congress of plans to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, marking the first formal step toward restoring diplomatic relations following the military operation that ousted President Nicolás Maduro in early January. The State Department said it will deploy temporary staffers to conduct “select” diplomatic functions while the existing embassy compound is brought up to standard.
The potential reopening would mark the first restoration of U.S. diplomatic presence since the embassy was shuttered in March 2019. The move comes as the Trump administration explores normalizing ties with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez.
In a notice to Congress dated Monday, the State Department outlined a phased approach to potentially resume embassy operations in Caracas. The notification, sent to 10 House and Senate committees, said the initial phase would involve deploying temporary staff to handle security and management duties.
The State Department indicated the work would gradually expand “to include consular, political, economic, management, security, and public diplomacy.” To accommodate expanded operations, the department said it may open a temporary facility in Caracas while the existing embassy compound is brought to standard condition.
Staffing Operations
Ahead of these expanded operations, a survey team from the Venezuela Affairs Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, traveled to Caracas shortly after the military operation that ousted Maduro to assess the embassy’s condition. Last week, the State Department named a Bogota-based career diplomat to serve as charge d’affaires for Venezuela. The Venezuela Affairs Unit, currently based in Bogota, would eventually relocate to Caracas as operations expand.
Diplomatic Engagement
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said on Tuesday that her government and the Trump administration “have established respectful and courteous channels of communication” since January 3, when Maduro was captured. During remarks from a public hospital tour, she said she is working with President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to set “a working agenda.”
Path Forward
The reopening of diplomatic operations would mark the first restoration of a U.S. presence in Venezuela since the embassy was shuttered in March 2019. Secretary of State Rubio is scheduled to testify on Venezuela before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee later this week. Resuming full diplomatic relations would require the Trump administration to revoke its recognition of the Venezuelan parliament elected in 2015 as the legitimate government.