The president of the Venezuelan regime, Nicholas Maduro, assured this Thursday, August 11, that he already has a name to reoccupy the Embassy of Venezuela in Colombia, once diplomatic relations between the two countries are restored. He made the announcement through a program on the Venezuelan Television Network (VTV). This is the diplomat and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the regime, Felix Plasencia.
“I want to announce that former Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia, who was former ambassador (sic) in the People’s Republic of China and who is today president of the International Investment Center of Venezuela, I have appointed him as the next ambassador to the Republic of Colombia,” said the dictator in live.
Maduro added that requested the approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia so that Plasencia, whom he defined as “a man of great diplomatic and political experience, with a great capacity for relationships”, pronto occupy the Bogotá embassy, whose building is in ruins and has not had a tenant since diplomatic relations between the two countries were definitively broken.
In the same message, Maduro said that the regime will continue to advance at a safe pace”in the reestablishment and reconstruction of political, diplomatic, and commercial relations”. He also stated that formed a team especial regarding Colombialed by Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and also made up of prosecutor Tarek William Saab.
His purpose with said team “is to work on a very serious plan — industrial gentlemen, a very serious plan! — for the programmed, progressive opening of the entire border. Openness to trade, investment, monetary movement. Win-win with the people of Colombia and the people of Venezuela, with the people of the border”.
Despite the long career of this Venezuelan-Spanish citizen, whose parents were born on the island of Tenerife, his name remained for many years outside the front page of chavismo. This is due to the fact that during more than two decades of his career, Plascencia —graduated in International Studies from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV)— managed to cultivate a low profile that earned him the qualification of “Discreet”.
However, having remained away from the spotlight does not erase the important places he has held over the years. In addition to going to Beijing in 2020, he led the Tourism and Foreign Trade portfolio in the regime between 2019 and 2020. Before that he was deputy foreign minister.
Plasencia is an old friend of Delcy Rodríguez’s family. That bond was born following meeting the vice president at the Venezuelan embassy in London during the second term (1994-1999) of the late former president Rafael Caldera.
He became a career diplomat following completing a master’s degree in European Studies at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and a postgraduate degree in Diplomatic Studies at Oxford University’s New College, UK.
Plascencia has been part of the Venezuelan diplomatic corps since 1991, well before the late Hugo Chávez came to power in Venezuela in 1999. However, the internationalist managed to adapt to the new times with skill.
His connections with the Rodríguez family allowed him to rise up the revolutionary ladder, first as Mayor of the Libertador Municipality —in Caracas— and then, when Delcy Rodríguez arrived at the Foreign Ministry (2014-2017), he was Director of Protocol at the Foreign Ministry, Deputy Minister for Asia, Middle East and Oceania, and Vice Minister for Multilateral Issues.
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