The United States has appointed its first ambassador to Venezuela in a decade

Washington has named its first ambassador to Venezuela in a decade despite the fact that the United States has no diplomats in its embassy in Caracas for the breakdown of their relationships.

James Story’s appointment as ambassador was confirmed Wednesday in an acclamation vote in the US Senate. He will carry out his work from the capital of neighboring Colombia, while Venezuela is suffering from a historic economic and political crisis.

Story, 50, from South Carolina, could play a key role in helping guide U.S. policy in Venezuela during President-elect Joe Biden’s transition.. Relations between the two nations have a long and complicated past which includes the victory of the government of Donald Trump in obtaining charges against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for alleged narco-terrorism.

Biden’s victory sparked a debate between those who support Trump’s tough approach to isolating Maduro and those who say it’s time to take a new path.. Critics say the heavy sanctions have failed to remove Maduro from power, have opened the country to Washington’s competitors like China, Russia and Iran, and have complicated the lives of millions of residents of the South American nation.

The United States and Venezuela have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010, when their relations began to deteriorate under the presidency of Hugo Chávez. The complete breakdown of diplomatic ties occurred last year, with diplomats withdrawing from each other shortly after Washington approved opposition Juan Guaidó as the country’s legitimate leader.

The United States leads a coalition of dozens of countries that rejected Maduro after his re-election to a second term in 2018 in a vote widely considered a fraud because popular opposition leaders were banned from running.

Since then, the US has imposed harsh sanctions on Maduro, its inner circle and the state oil company in an effort to isolate them. The Trump administration offered a $ 15 million reward for the Venezuelan leader’s arrest after a US court charged him with drug trafficking offenses.

Story, a career diplomat appointed by Trump in May, was in charge of affairs at the embassy, ​​which is the diplomat who leads a mission in the absence of an ambassador.. His career has taken him to Mexico, Brazil, Mozambique and Afghanistan. Today he leads an emptied squad in a “virtual” embassy in Bogotá.

Despite the challenge of working outside of Venezuela, Story holds a weekly 30-minute conversation via Facebook Live in an effort to maintain ties with millions of Venezuelans in their country or those who have fled the crisis. The diplomat responds, in fluent Spanish, to questions from Venezuelans and the few Americans still present, addressing the latest intrigues and riots that arise in the country and in the United States. Sometimes it is expressed in English with a strong accent. from South Carolina.

Story doesn’t hesitate to point to Maduro and his executive for what critics say is an increasingly authoritarian government and the corrupt practices blamed for the destruction of the once prosperous oil sector, which has left the country in ruins.

“Look, this is not a real democracyStory said in an online chat earlier this year, later criticizing Venezuelan officials whose families lead luxurious lives in Spain and Panama while most of the population is in poverty. “Yes, they are cheating.”

With AP information

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