For the first time in many years, the United States has a top diplomat officially in residence representing Washington to Venezuela.
Veteran US diplomat John M. Barrett has arrived in Caracas to serve as chargé d’affaires at the US Embassy in Venezuela, the mission announced Thursday, marking a new phase in Washington's diplomatic presence in Venezuela, and after a US military raid on Jan.3 ousted and captured longtime leader Nicolás Maduro.
Barrett is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, and he was tapped by the Trump admin for role in April after most recently serving as chargé d’affaires at the US Embassy in Guatemala.
His arrival forms part of President Trump's stated three-phase plan to "restore democracy" in Venezuela, with the chargé d’affaires acting as the top US representative in the absence of a Senate-confirmed ambassador.
It must be recalled that it was actually the Director of the CIA who was the first top Trump admin official to visit post-Maduro Caracas and warmly shake hands with new leader, then-Vice President Delcy Rodríguez.
Ironically she had long been among the most staunchly socialist officials within the Chavista regime of Maduro, and her being accepted by Washington shows there was not actual regime change on any institutional level, just the tapping of a more pliant US puppet.
Various reports review that before his posting in Guatemala, Barrett served from 2023 to 2025 as deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Panama.
"The relationship between the United States and Venezuela will shape the future of our hemisphere. My name is John Barrett, and I have just arrived in Venezuela to serve as charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas," Barrett said in a newly video published introducing himself and the new role by the embassy on social media.
"President Trump and Secretary Rubio have a clear vision for the prosperity of our region, and I am here to continue implementing their three-phase plan for Venezuela. We remain committed to Venezuela," he added.
His prior diplomatic roles include serving as counselor for economic affairs at the US Embassy in Peru and as consul general in Recife, where he led US diplomatic engagement across eight northeastern states.
It's expected that with the reopening and normalization of embassy operations, so will the presence of American spies in Caracas grow - as goes the pattern with most any country, but especially in the case of Latin America, and given the presence of the world's largest proven oil reserves under the ground.