Cultural Office

The Cultural Affairs office fosters mutual understanding between the United States and Venezuela by promoting personal, professional, and institutional ties between the two countries, as well as by presenting U.S. history, society, art and culture in all of its diversity to Venezuelan audiences. The office is comprised of two U.S. Foreign Service Officers and a staff six Venezuelans, as well as one locally hired U.S. citizen.

The Cultural Affairs Office has responsibility for managing the U.S. Department of State's educational and cultural exchange programs in Venezuela. These include the:

1. Fulbright Program that provides grants to Graduate Students, Scholars and Professionals, and Teachers and Administrators, 
2. The International Visitor Program that brings participants to the U.S. to meet and confer with professional counterparts and to experience firsthand the U.S. and its institutions,
3. The Humphrey Fellowships that bring mid-level professionals from Venezuela to the United States for a year of academic study and professional experiences,
4. and the U.S. Speaker and Specialist program that provides U.S. experts, either electronically through digital video conferencing or in person through international travel to Venezuela, who share their expertise in subject areas of mutual interest to the U.S. and Venezuela.

Additionally, the office has the opportunity on occasion to develop professional, cultural and youth exchanges between Venezuelan and U.S. non-profit institutions, including voluntary community organizations, professional associations, and universities. Thematic categories for grants include civil society, NGO development, civic education, media development, judicial training, intellectual property rights, and public administration among other themes.

In addition, this office hosts a variety of appearances by representatives of U.S. arts and culture and supports local events that include U.S. artists and their work.

The Cultural Affairs Office at the U.S. Embassy may be contacted as follows:

E-mail: CaracasCultural@state.gov
Telephone: +58 (212) 907-8330
Fax: +58 (212) 907-8243