U.S.–Venezuela Reset Accelerates as Delcy Rodríguez Hosts Envoy and Names Plasencia to Washington

Overview

• U.S. chargé d’affaires Laura Dogu met interim president Delcy Rodríguez at Miraflores on Feb. 2 in the first official contact since ties were severed in 2019.
• Dogu reiterated Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s sequence of stabilization, economic recovery and reconciliation, then transition, as the framework for engagement.
• Rodríguez appointed longtime ally Félix Plasencia as Venezuela’s representative to the United States, with his deployment to Washington expected in the coming days.
• Caracas advanced oil‑sector changes that roll back the 1976 nationalization model by allowing private operators and easing royalties and taxes to attract investment.
• The interim leader announced a general amnesty and the closure of El Helicoide, but the measure awaits parliamentary approval as the NGO Foro Penal counts 687 political detainees.