John M. Barrett, who since January of this year held the position of chargé d’affaires of the United States embassy in Guatemala, will be transferred to the same position for the diplomatic representation in Venezuela of the Government of Donald Trump, as confirmed by the media of the Central American country.
Reports from newspapers, such as República and La Hora, indicate that Barrett will leave his current position in Guatemala City in the coming days to assume this mission that Donald Trump’s administration considers strategic in the region.
The designation comes a few months after the formal reopening of the United States Embassy in Caracas, closed for almost seven years after the breakdown of relations during the government of Nicolás Maduro.
Barrett is a senior member of the U.S. Foreign Service with more than 20 years of experience. He speaks fluent Spanish and Portuguese. He has an MBA from the prestigious Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) and a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College.
His previous positions include Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Panama (2023-2026); economic advisor in Peru and El Salvador and consul general in Recife, Brazil.
Barrett was deputy chief of mission in Guatemala (DCM). While in Panama – its previous mission to Guatemala – the US “regained” control of the Panama Canal and removed it from China’s influence, something key in the application of the so-called Donroe doctrine.
After his successful mission in the canal country, during his time in Guatemala he fulfilled all the objectives: ensuring that the influence of drug traffickers and organized crime did not permeate—or decide—the integration of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the Constitutional Court.
In Panama, Barrett set the stage for the US mission there to be led by a politically appointed ambassador; In Guatemala, his role was also precisely that. In his next destination, a country in the region of the highest importance for the United States, he is once again in charge of a similar mission.
His profile focuses on security issues, immigration control, combating drug trafficking and strengthening economic relations under the “America First” agenda.
What will happen to Laura Dogu?
Laura F. Dogu, who was appointed by Trump in early 2026 as chargé d’affaires to reopen the mission in Caracas, only remained in the position for about three months. He arrived in Venezuela at the end of January and led the official reopening of the embassy in March.
So far his next destination has not been made public. It is common in the Foreign Service for senior diplomats to be rotated after short stints on particularly sensitive or transitional missions.
Diplomatic sources have not yet confirmed whether Dogu will return to Washington, take over another embassy or receive a new appointment. His management focused on the initial phase of stabilization and dialogue with Venezuelan political and business sectors.
The US State Department has not yet issued an official statement confirming Barrett’s appointment or Dogu’s departure, so details could evolve in the coming hours or days.
This rotation reflects the priority that the current US administration gives to Venezuela in the context of the reestablishment of bilateral relations and the country’s new political stage.
