JN / Agencies
Yesterday at 5:56 pm–
The European Union ambassador to Venezuela, the Portuguese Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, left the country this Tuesday, after being declared “persona non grata” by the government of President Nicolás Maduro, leaving a message of thanks to the Venezuelans.
“The ambassador lady has already left the country, on the plane that has just taken off,” said a diplomatic source, referring to flight TK224 that departed from Simón Bolívar de Maiquetía International Airport (north of Caracas) at 12.04 local time (16.04 hours in Portugal) mainland), bound for Istanbul, Turkey.
Just before leaving, the ambassador posted a message on Twitter, with a photo of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, and thanking “the affection” of the Venezuelans.
“Today, March 2, Caracas presented me with the most beautiful sunrise, with the Ávila (mountain that surrounds the Venezuelan capital from the north) in all its splendor,” he wrote.
In the same message, the diplomat also sends “infinite thanks to all Venezuelans for their affection, recognition and affection”.
“I take them all, in so many beautiful memories. My heart is here. I love Venezuela,” he wrote.
The Venezuelan government last Wednesday notified the head of the EU delegation in Caracas, the Portuguese diplomat Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, that she was declared a ‘persona non grata’ and that she should leave the country within the next 72 hours.
The lack of “flight availability” prevented, however, according to diplomatic sources, the ambassador from leaving Venezuela within that period, which only happened now, being on her way to Istanbul on a trip that has Brussels as a destination.
The Caracas decision was a reaction to the decision last week by European heads of diplomacy to add 19 people to the list of personalities linked to the Venezuelan regime targeted for failing to recognize the December 6 elections, considering they did not meet the necessary democratic standards .
On Thursday, the EU retaliated against the Caracas decision and decided to declare the head of the Venezuelan mission to the European institutions, Cláudia Salerno Caldera, as a ‘persona non grata’, but she will not have to leave Brussels as she remains the ambassador of the Venezuela in Belgium and Luxembourg.
Meanwhile, Caracas delivered notes of protest to Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands, nations to which it accuses of promoting the sanctions approved by the EU, “without consulting with other countries, nor mediating, without any type of communication and without the right to due defense”.
This is the second time that Venezuela has declared Portuguese diplomat Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa as a ‘persona non grata’.
On May 29, 2020, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered his expulsion, giving him 72 hours to leave the country after Brussels sanctioned 11 more Caracas officials.
On July 2, Nicolás Maduro welcomed an agreement between Brussels and Caracas to suspend the expulsion of the diplomat and urged the EU to change its relationship with the South American country.
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