The government of Nicolás Maduro announced this Saturday that it has made the decision to revoke, “immediately” and unilaterally, the permission for Brazil to guard the Argentine Embassy in Caracas.
“Venezuela is forced to make this decision motivated by the evidence that the facilities of this diplomatic mission were used to plan terrorist activities and assassination attempts against the Constitutional President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros, and against the Executive Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez Gómez, by the fugitives from Venezuelan justice who remain within it,” states the text released by the Chavista regime’s foreign ministry.
Minutes later, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry issued a brief statement in which it assured that it would continue to be in charge of the custody of the Argentine embassy in Caracas.
“The Brazilian government was surprised by the Venezuelan government’s announcement that it intends to revoke its consent for Brazil to protect Argentine interests in Venezuela. In accordance with the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, Brazil will remain in charge of the custody and defense of Argentine interests until the Argentine government designates another State acceptable to the Venezuelan government to perform these functions,” the text states.
And he added: “In this context, the Brazilian government highlights, in accordance with the Vienna Conventions, the inviolability of the facilities of the Argentine diplomatic mission, which currently house six Venezuelan asylum seekers, as well as their assets and archives.”
The Argentine Foreign Ministry also issued a statement following the unilateral decision of the Venezuelan regime: “The Argentine Republic expresses its recognition to the sister Federative Republic of Brazil for representing Argentine interests in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and thanks its commitment and responsibility in ensuring the safekeeping of Argentine properties in that country. It also denounces before the international community that at this moment patrols of the Venezuelan intelligence services and security forces are surrounding the official residence in Caracas. At the same time, the Maduro regime has announced that it has unilaterally revoked the authorization granted to Brazil to guard the official property.”
“The Argentine Republic rejects this unilateral measure and warns the Venezuelan government that it must respect the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which enshrines the inviolability of mission premises. Any attempt to interfere or kidnap asylum seekers staying in our official residence will be harshly condemned by the international community. Actions such as these reinforce the belief that fundamental human rights are not respected in Maduro’s Venezuela,” adds the statement published by Argentine diplomacy.
Police officers have been besieging the official residence of the Argentine Embassy in Caracas since Friday night – under Brazilian protection following the expulsion of the diplomatic mission from the southern country – where six opposition members have been sheltering since March.
The Command with Venezuela, of the opposition members María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia, denounced the presence of the regime’s security forces: “07:35 AM. This is how the headquarters of the Argentine embassy in Caracas looks, surrounded by hooded and armed regime agents, who -also- prevent access to journalists even though the street is not closed.”
Around noon, Pedro Urruchurtu, international coordinator of Vente Venezuela, reported that the siege against the embassy continued.
In addition to Meda and Urruchurtu, former deputy Omar González, member of Voluntad Popular (VV); Claudia Macero, VV Communications Coordinator; Humberto Villalobos, electoral coordinator of the VV Campaign Command; and former minister Fernando Martínez Mottola, advisor to the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), the main opposition bloc, are also in asylum.
The six opposition members sought refuge after the Chavista prosecutor’s office accused them of several crimes, including “conspiracy” and “treason,” among others.
At the end of July, this group of opponents denounced that “regime security officials” were outside the place and were seeking to “take over this diplomatic headquarters,” which they described as a “serious violation of international law.”
The regime’s actions also come at a time of tension between Caracas and Brasilia, following recent statements by Brazilian President Lula da Silva, who questioned Maduro following the electoral fraud of July 28.
“I think Maduro’s behavior is disappointing,” Lula said Friday in an interview with Difusora radio, in which he noted that “in Brazil, democracy was learned with much suffering,” although he clarified that “when people are extremists, they don’t accept it.”
Since August, Brazil has been responsible for safeguarding the diplomatic missions of Peru and Argentina in Venezuela, as well as representing their interests and citizens in the Caribbean country, following the expulsion of members of both delegations.
In addition to Peru and Argentina, Maduro’s dictatorship also demanded that Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay “immediately” withdraw their representatives, in rejection of their “interventionist” statements regarding the July 28 presidential elections, in which the Chavista was proclaimed the winner, which is questioned by a large part of the international community.
#Maduro #government #revoked #permission #Brazil #guard #Argentine #embassy #Caracas #Diario #Página
