Overview
- Delcy Rodríguez announced the appointment on Thursday, October 29, replacing Félix Plasencia with Oliver Blanco as minister of foreign affairs.
- Blanco has pledged a results-driven, inclusive diplomacy that respects different voices and seeks new investment and development opportunities for Venezuela.
- Blanco met with U.S. chargé d’affaires John Barrett in Caracas and both sides said they will work together on a three-phase plan of stabilization, recovery, and transition.
- Plasencia was reassigned to director of International Affairs and immediately dispatched to the United Kingdom to press for the return of roughly €2 billion in Venezuelan gold held by the Bank of England since 2018.
- The personnel move responds to rising domestic pressure for presidential renewal and the return of opposition leader María Corina Machado and could speed cooperation on institutional reforms tied to a possible political transition.