On the evening before President Donald Trump is set to meet with US oil executives to discuss Venezuela, activists staged a large-scale projection opposing oil-driven intervention and the use of US taxpayer dollars to subsidize Big Oil, January 8, 2026, Washington. MICHAEL MCCOY / AP
The Trump administration has notified Congress that it is taking the first steps to possibly reopen the shuttered US Embassy in Venezuela as it explores restoring relations with the South American country following the US military raid that ousted then-President Nicolas Maduro.
In a notice to lawmakers dated Monday, January 26, and which was obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, the State Department said it was sending in a regular contingent of temporary staffers to conduct "select" diplomatic functions.
It said the staffers would live and work in a temporary facility while the existing embassy compound is brought up to standard. It was shuttered in March 2019 when the US and Venezuela severed diplomatic ties during President Donald Trump's first term.
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