2024-09-08 17:07:30
Venezuela has withdrawn its permission for Brazil to represent Argentina’s interests in the country, including running the embassy where six opposition figures are hiding, Reuters reported, citing the Venezuelan government.
A Venezuelan statement said the decision took effect “immediately” and was due to evidence that the embassy was being used to plan assassination attempts on President Nicolás Maduro and Vice President Delsey Rodriguez Gomez, BTA reported.
Shortly after, Brazil said it received the information “with surprise”. In its statement, it insisted that it would continue to protect and defend Argentine interests until Argentina names another country acceptable to Venezuela to do so. “In this context, the Brazilian government emphasizes, in accordance with the terms of the Vienna Conventions, the inviolability of the premises of the Argentine diplomatic mission,” the statement added, adding that the embassy houses six Venezuelan asylum seekers, as well as property and archives.
“Any attempt to invade or abduct the asylum seekers who remain in our official residence will be strongly condemned by the international community,” the Argentine government said in a statement. “Such actions reinforce the belief that basic human rights are not respected in Maduro’s Venezuela,” the Argentine statement added.
Last night, some members of the Venezuelan opposition in the Argentine embassy wrote on their X profiles that the building was under surveillance and had no electricity. They posted videos showing men dressed in black and government intelligence agency patrols.
In March, six people sought refuge in the Argentine embassy in Caracas after a prosecutor ordered their arrest on charges that included conspiracy. Opposition leader María Corina Machado rejected the accusations against her associates.
Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for Nicolás Maduro and other senior government officials in connection with events that occurred after the July elections.
Venezuela severed ties with Argentina following the disputed July 28 presidential election. Brazil, like Colombia and Mexico, has asked the Venezuelan government to release the full results of the vote.
The government failed to do so, and the country’s electoral body announced that President Nicolás Maduro had been re-elected for a third term.