Restoring full diplomatic ties with a former adversary nation is always a pretty big deal. It’s a sign that things are getting back to normal, that two nations are beginning to talk as if not friends, then at least not enemies. It’s the start of normal, peaceful relations, of establishing trade, of a newer, less contentious relationship.
It’s happening now. The United States of America has reopened the American embassy in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
The U.S. officially reopened its embassy in Caracas on Monday for the first time after its ousting (sic) of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The U.S. shuttered its Venezuelan embassy in 2019, after a breakdown in diplomatic relations with the country. The U.S. would not recognize Maduro as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, and diplomats were facing increasing hostility, including orders from Maduro to leave the country. Since 2019, the U.S. has carried out diplomatic engagement with Venezuela through a team operating from its embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.
“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 State Department said in a statement Monday.
Resumption of trade, then, which presumably will include oil, of which Venezuela has a surfeit.
Apparently, the building requires a bit of work. A PBS report said:
The State Department announced Monday that it had resumed normal operations at the embassy in Caracas — which had been in need of significant repair, including remediation from mold — after a seven-year closure that began during President Donald Trump’s first term.
A small team of U.S. diplomats, based in neighboring Colombia, has been working in Caracas for more than a month and hosted a flag-raising ceremony on March 14, but the embassy itself had not yet been reopened until Monday.
In that climate, none of this is surprising, especially not the mold. It’s encouraging, though, that consular work has resumed, even as the building is being refurbished.
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This ongoing renewal of relations is a win for the Trump Administration, and the aptly-named Donroe Doctrine, but the transition isn’t complete yet, and won’t be until Venezuela has elections. Until then, the shadow of Nicolás Maduro and Hugo Chávez will hang over everything the South American nation does, and until then, the United States shouldn’t get too happy about how things are going down there.
It’s a good sign nonetheless. A resumption of trade with the United States and, in time, the rest of the free world, will be good for Venezuela. It won’t be so good for Cuba, who was getting oil from Venezuela when the two countries were still good fraternal communist buddies. That’s over now, and it’s not at all clear that Venezuela will be terribly interested in selling cheap oil to China, either.
Two birds, one stone.
You can view the United States State Department’s press release on the reopening here.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice
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