Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodríguez appoints Johann Álvarez as U.S. chargé

Interim president Delcy Rodríguez announced a cabinet reshuffle that merges the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Ministry of External Trade, creating a new Ministry of Relations and Commerce. As part of the changes, economist Johann Álvarez Márquez, formerly minister of External Trade, was appointed as Venezuela’s chargé d’affaires in the United States, replacing Félix Plasencia, who became the new minister of the merged ministry. Rodríguez said, “Informo que he decidido designar a Johann Álvarez Márquez como nuevo encargado de negocios de Venezuela en los Estados Unidos, con la misión de representar los intereses de nuestro país y avanzar en esta nueva etapa de diálogo, cooperación y respeto mutuo.” Yvan Gil was moved to lead the Ministry of Science and Technology, and other appointments included José David Cabello as president of state petrochemical firm Pequiven and Francisco Garcés as minister of Transport.

The reshuffle occurs amid the humanitarian emergency caused by two major earthquakes on 24 June that killed more than 4,500 people, injured over 16,000 and left thousands homeless. Russia delivered 35 tonnes of aid, and a group of U.S. Democratic congressmembers urged the Biden administration to lift broad sanctions and release frozen Venezuelan assets to aid reconstruction.