MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay picks new Ambassador for Caracas post

Montes de Oca is said to have vast experience in regional matters

The Uruguayan Government of President Luis Lacale Pou decided to appoint Silvana Montes de Oca as the new Ambassador to Venezuela following the resignation of Eber Da Rosa, which raised doubts as to whether Montevideo would lower its diplomatic mission in Caracas to a chargé d'affairs level.

Da Rosa left his post amid political tensions with the government of Nicolás Maduro, which Lacalle dubbed “a dictatorship.” In response, Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez said he was a “lackey” of imperialism.

Montes de Oca is a lawyer and a notary public who graduated from the Universidad de la República (Udelar) and joined the Foreign Ministry in 2002.

Between 2006 and 2011, she served at the Embassy in Washington DC. and was the Uruguayan consul in Toronto between 2013 and 2018. She held the same position in Santiago, Chile, between 2021 and 2022.

Given the notorious opposite stances between the governments of Maduro and Lacalle, Montes de Oca is expected to tiptoe across Caracas diplomatic circles as the country heads for presidential elections with opposition leader María Corina Machado banned from running.

Montes de Oca's appointment has been greenlighted by the Venezuelan government.