April 3, 2026
The US State Department (USSD) said that it has reopened its main embassy in Caracas after seven years of closing up and moving to continue engagement through a sub-office in Colombia.
A short statement on the USSD said that since March 2019, U.S. diplomatic engagement with Venezuela has been carried out through the Venezuela Affairs Unit (VAU), the interim diplomatic office of the U.S. Government to Venezuela, located at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia. Today, we are formally resuming operations at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, marking a new chapter in our diplomatic presence in Venezuela.
In January, Ambassador Laura F. Dogu arrived in Caracas to lead the U.S. government’s efforts on the ground in Venezuela as Charge d’Affaires. Ambassador Dogu’s team is restoring the chancery building at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas to prepare for the full return of personnel as soon as possible and the eventual resumption of consular services.
The resumption of operations at U.S. Embassy Caracas is a key milestone in implementing the President’s three‑phase plan for Venezuela and will strengthen our ability to engage directly with Venezuela’s interim government, civil society, and the private sector.
The US government has accused Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials of participating in drug trafficking and of providing cover to other Latin American criminal groups. The Delta Force raid that led to Maduro’s capture earlier this year, based on a federal indictment, was widely condemned internationally.
Maduro and his wife are currently sitting inside a federal prison in New York, waiting for their court case to proceed.
Since the abduction, Laura F Dogu, a longtime US diplomat and intelligence official who served as US ambassador to Honduras and Nicaragua, has been in Caracas, working to restore the US embassy in the country. Dogu is the current charge d’affaires to Venezuela.
“Dogu’s team is restoring the chancery building at the US embassy in Caracas to prepare for the full return of personnel as soon as possible and the eventual resumption of consular services,” the state department said. “The resumption of operations at US embassy Caracas is a key milestone in implementing the president’s three‑phase plan for Venezuela and will strengthen our ability to engage directly with Venezuela’s interim government, civil society and the private sector.”