US Embassy opens in Caracas, Venezuela!
Caracas, Mar 14 (EFE).-
The United States Embassy in Venezuela hoisted the American flag on Saturday for the first time in seven years, following an agreement between the two nations to re-establish diplomatic relations, which were broken off in 2019.
The US flag now flies high on the flagpole within the diplomatic mission’s compound, located in a Caracas neighborhood.
Laura Dogu, the chargé d’affaires for the US in the Caribbean nation, noted on the embassy’s social media that the American flag had last been lowered on March 14, 2019.
“This morning, on March 14, 2026, at the same time, my team and I raised the American flag—exactly seven years after it was lowered,” she stated.
The diplomat celebrated the beginning of “a new era for U.S.-Venezuela relations.”
“Onward with Venezuela,” added Dogu, who arrived in Caracas in late January with the mission of reopening the embassy on Venezuelan soil. A few days later, the acting president Delcy Rodríguez appointed former Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia as its diplomatic representative to the US.
The US delegation later shared a video with images of the flag-raising, which, according to Dogu, symbolizes “all that lies ahead for the people of Venezuela and the United States.”
“The American flag represents possibility, hope, and freedom. It represents sacrifice, struggle, and overcoming insurmountable challenges,” she added in the video.
On March 5, the US Department of State announced that an agreement had been reached with Venezuela’s interim authorities to re-establish diplomatic and consular relations, a step that will facilitate “joint efforts to promote stability, support economic recovery, and advance political reconciliation in Venezuela.”
On February 11, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright traveled to Caracas and established a long-term energy partnership with Rodríguez, a work agenda that continued with the visit this March by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
One week later, Southern Command Chief Francis Donovan visited Venezuela and met with Rodríguez government authorities. They agreed to collaborate on issues such as migration and fighting drug trafficking.
Diplomatic ties had remained severed after Washington recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president in early 2019, during the first term of Donald Trump, to which former president Nicolás Maduro responded by severing relations.
Back in January, Maduro was captured by US forces in Caracas as a result of a series of attacks on Venezuelan territory. EFE
csm/dmv
