Doing Business in Venezuela Webinar Series

Beth Urbanas is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia and the Americas at the Office of International Affairs in the U.S. Department of Energy. Ms. Urbanas is responsible for managing DOE’s bilateral and multilateral engagement with Asian and American countries. She is also responsible for DOE's work in several multilateral fora including the North American Leaders' Summit, the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas, and APEC. Ms. Urbanas has also been a lead negotiator in the USMCA and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework focusing on Energy and Clean Economy. Prior to her current position, she was the Director for European and Eurasian Affairs at the Office of International Affairs in the U.S. Department of Energy. In this role she was also responsible for DOE's work in the G20 and G7.

Prior to working at DOE, Ms. Urbanas spent 14 years at the U.S. Treasury Department where she created and directed the Office of Environment and Energy.  She was also instrumental in the design of the Climate Investment Funds and the Green Climate Fund, where she represented the United States on the boards.   She also represented the United States and sat on the boards of several other international organizations including the Global Environment Facility, the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the World Bank.  Ms. Urbanas represented the United States in the UNFCCC Climate Negotiations from 2007 to 2013 in the finance channel.  She started her career in investment management on Wall Street and has also held a staff position at the World Bank.  Ms. Urbanas has a B.A. from the College of William and Mary, an M.A. from the State University of New York at Albany, and an M.B.A from George Mason University.

Matthew Cline is the Director of the Office of American Affairs at the United States Department of Energy (DOE). In this position, Mr. Cline oversees initiatives to improve the energy security of the United States and its allies and partners in the Americas, foster collaborative energy R&D and deployment activities and partnerships, and to encourage energy investment and trade that will strengthen economic competitiveness.

 

Prior assignments with DOE have included the Office of European and Eurasian Affairs; Energy Advisor to U.S. European Command (EUCOM) in Stuttgart, Germany, where he advised EUCOM senior leadership and staff on a broad range of strategic energy and nuclear issues; and Economist with DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), where he was a senior expert on global oil markets.

 

Mr. Cline holds a Master of Arts Degree in European Studies from the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University and Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Political Science and International Affairs from Oregon State University.

A corporate and tax lawyer in the private sector, Ms. Tovar has over 35 years of experience in tax consulting, corporate strategic planning, administrative and judicial procedures in tax matters, foreign investments, exchange regulations, corporate law, with main clients related to the automotive sector, industrial production, services and the aeronautical sector, and the hydrocarbon sector.

She graduated (JD) from the Andrés Bello Catholic University in 1988. She studied a Specialization in Tax Law at the Central University of Venezuela (1991); a Master’s degree (LLM) from Boston University in International Banking Law and Financial Services Regulations (1994), and obtained a Master of Public Policy and Administration and International Taxes (ITP/MPA) from Harvard University (John. F. Kennedy School of Law and School of Government (1997). Ms. Tovar was awarded the Lucius Littauer Award from Harvard University (KSG) and was a Fundayacucho scholarship recipient.

Completed the Hydrocarbon and Natural Gas Management Programs at IESA, and the Diploma in ‘International Tax Law and Negotiation of Double Taxation Agreements’ at UCAB.

As part of experience in public policy consultancy, Ms. Tovar worked on consulting projects with Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), in Income Tax, VAT, Tax on Fixed Assets, Specific Tax on Alcohol and reform and restructuring of Tax and Customs Administrations (in Mexico, Indonesia, Sri -Lanka, Kenya, Zambia and Puerto Rico).

David L. Fogel serves as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service for the International Trade Administration (ITA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce. In this role, Mr. Fogel leads ITA’s Global Markets business unit dedicated to commercial diplomacy, commercial advocacy, export promotion, and foreign direct investment, with more than a thousand trade professionals across hundreds of offices globally.

Mr. Fogel’s previous public service includes his 2020 appointment as Senior Advisor and Chief Business Development Officer in the Office of the Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment at the U.S. Department of State.  He was subsequently nominated by President Donald J. Trump during his first term as Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs.  Prior to his role at the State Department, Mr. Fogel was appointed as Chief of Staff at the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM). At both the State Department and EXIM, Mr. Fogel advocated for U.S. business interests around the world.

In the private sector, Mr. Fogel has built and sold three FinTech companies:  NCCS/Coinmint, a crypto mining company, where he served as Chief Executive Officer; IndexIQ, an indexing and ETF company, where he served as Co-Founder and President; and SmartPortfolio.com, where he served as Co-Founder and Vice President. Mr. Fogel began his career as a corporate attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

Mr. Fogel received a B.S.F.S., summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, a J.D., magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, from Georgetown University Law Center, and an M.B.A. from the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. He also has served as an Adjunct Professor in Entrepreneurship at the Georgetown University Law Center and on the Advisory Board of the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown.

David is Managing Director of IPD Latin America, a consulting firm that specializes in the oil, gas, and power markets throughout Latin America. For thirty years, he has worked in energy and general infrastructure development with a focus on business strategy, market analysis, political risk, and business-to-government relations. Having resided in Venezuela for twenty years, David is one of the leading experts on that country’s energy industry. From his base in Spain today, he oversees the company’s regional business, which furnishes advisory services to multi-national energy developers, oilfield service companies, government and multi-lateral institutions. David graduated from Boston College with a degree in political science.  He is a member of energy working group at the Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid, Spain.

Félix Ramón Plasencia González is a Venezuelan career diplomat and ambassador with over three decades of experience in international relations and government leadership. He holds advanced degrees in European and international studies. He has served as Venezuela’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador to China and Colombia, and held senior roles across multilateral, economic, and diplomatic institutions. As of 2026, he is Chargé d’Affaires of Venezuela to the United States.