The new United States chargé d’affaires in Venezuela, John Barrett, reported this Thursday that he is already in the country, where he will replace diplomat Laura Dogu, appointed at the end of January to reopen the diplomatic mission after seven years of broken relations.
In the embassy’s X account, Barrett assured that he will continue to “implement the three-phase plan” of US President Donald Trump for this country: stabilization, recovery and transition.
“I am on Venezuelan soil to continue implementing the three-phase plan (…) and offer results for the people of our countries,” he expressed.
For Barrett, who has just been chargé d’affaires in Guatemala, it is “an honor to represent the United States at this historic moment” of relations with Venezuela, which were broken for seven years and were formally reestablished last March, two months after the capture of Nicolás Maduro by the North American nation.
Subsequently, the vice chancellor for Europe and North America, Oliver Blanco, reported a meeting with Barrett, with whom the Venezuelan Government, he said, aspires to “continue developing a relationship of mutual respect, bilateral cooperation and work aimed at the benefit” of their countries.
Dogu announced his departure on April 15 in a statement in which he thanked Trump and the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, for entrusting him with “the task of leading the implementation of their plan” in Venezuela.
Likewise, she then said that she will return to her position as foreign policy advisor to the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, while the diplomatic staff in Caracas “will continue to advance the three-phase plan” during “this new stage of bilateral relations.”
Barrett had assumed his duties as chargé d’affaires in Guatemala in January 2026, after having been minister counselor at the US Embassy in Panama since May 2023, according to the North American country.
He also held the positions of counselor for Economic Affairs at the embassy in Peru and consul general in the Brazilian city of Recife.
