US pushes ahead with plans to reopen embassy in Venezuela

When asked about the possibility of reopening the embassy by reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday, President Donald Trump said, “we’re thinking about it.”

The Trump administration is quickly moving to reestablish a diplomatic presence in Venezuela, asking local staff to prepare for the arrival of US officials at its embassy in Caracas as soon as this week.

No official date has been set to reopen the embassy, according to people involved, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. The State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

When asked about the possibility of reopening the embassy by reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday, President Donald Trump said, “we’re thinking about it.”

The timing underscores how rapidly Washington is seeking to reset relations after Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as acting president on Monday, just days after a US airstrike resulted in the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Already, state oil company PDVSA said on Wednesday that it is in talks to sell a large volume of crude to the US.

The hulking American embassy sits atop a lush green hill in the eastern Caracas neighborhood of Valle Arriba. Spanning the size of two football fields, the building is visible from much of the city. It was inaugurated in 1995, after a four-year construction process that cost nearly $13 million.

At its height in the mid-2000s, nearly 500 employees and contractors from as many as nine US agencies — including the Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Homeland Security — worked there.

A large US flag used to fly in front of the compound, until the US suspended operations in 2019. That was when Trump, during his first term, said Maduro’s reelection the year prior was illegitimate and instead recognized opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido as the country’s president. Responsibilities in Venezuela have been handled by the US embassy in neighboring Colombia since.