United States names top embassy official in Venezuela

The US embassy page listed Laura F. Dogu -- a former ambassador to Nicaragua and Honduras -- as the new charge d'affaires to Venezuela, where US-backed interim president Delcy Rodriguez has taken over from Nicolas Maduro.

Maduro was seized by US troops in a lightning January 3 attack on the capital Caracas that President Donald Trump said leaves the United States able to "run" the country and control its oil industry.

Caracas and Washington severed diplomatic ties after Maduro's widely disputed claim to reelection in 2019, and the US embassy has been mostly deserted since then, barring a few local employees.

However, John McNamara served as US charge d'affaires for Venezuela -- based in neighboring Colombia -- since last year.

A charge d'affaires heads a diplomatic mission in the absence of a full ambassador.

McNamara travelled with other US diplomats to Caracas days after Maduro's ouster to "conduct an initial assessment for a potential phased resumption of operations" at the embassy.

Trump has said he was working "really well" with Rodriguez, who had been vice president in Maduro's anti-US leftist government.

A US official said Wednesday that Rodriguez would visit the United States soon.

But Trump has also warned Rodriguez of a fate possibly worse than Maduro's if she fails to heed US demands on policy reforms and access to oil -- of which Venezuela has more proven reserves than any other country on Earth.

Rodriguez has since announced oil agreements with Washington and promised a reform of Venezuela's hydrocarbons law that currently limits foreign involvement in the nationalized sector.

She has also promised to free political prisoners.

"We are in a process of dialogue, of working with the United States, without any fear, to confront our differences and difficulties...and to address them through diplomacy," Rodriguez said Wednesday.