Venezuela: Juan Carlos Fernandes Juárez appointed ambassador to Portugal

“ I am very happy for this opportunity”, said the diplomat in a text message sent to the Lusa Agency when asked about the appointment.

In another message Juan Carlos Fernandes confirmed that he is the son of a Venezuelan mother and a Portuguese father, born in São Vicente, Madeira.

The proposal for the appointment of Juan Carlos Fernandes as ambassador of Venezuela in Portugal was presented by Alberto Giménez of the People's Election Movement party (left).

“ Today it is up to us to analyze this nomination for a [Portugal] country that was one of the first to recognize Venezuela's independence in 1821. This year we celebrate 113 years of diplomatic relations with a [Portugal] country with which our diplomatic relations have a profound human content,” said Alberto Giménez.

He also stressed that parliamentarians have witnessed the great efforts of the National Executive and interim President Delcy Rodriguez to normalize relations with the different countries of the world.

“ We are talking about one of the European communities that took root in Venezuela. During the governments of the commander [Hugo] Chávez and the then Prime Minister [Portuguese] José Socrates, there was a phase of expansion and great consolidation of diplomatic relations between the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Portuguese Republic,” he said.

However, he stressed that these relations “were subsequently distancing and cooling due to political differences”.

“ In the year 2026, we also saw great efforts to bring this diplomatic relationship to the level of ambassadors,” he stressed.

Alberto Giménez also explained Juan Carlos Fernandes Juárez, is a young Venezuelan graduate in geography, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela since 2011 and with extensive experience in diplomatic matters.

He was also Minister-Advisor of the Embassy of Venezuela in the United States, then in Mozambique, and was subsequently appointed ambassador to Vietnam, as well as exercising joint representation in Asian countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.

“ He is responsible for the important process of regulating and normalising our relations,” he said.

Among them, the reestablishment of air links and trade relations, and work hard to recover Venezuelan funds held in Novo Banco (since 2019, according to the local press).

Venezuela’s AN will now notify Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Félix Plasencia and refer approval for publication in the Official Gazette, equivalent to the Diary of the Republic.

At the same session, the National Assembly of Venezuela approved the appointment of Raúl Licausi, until now Deputy Minister for the Caribbean, as new ambassador to Belgium.