Argentine embassy staff in Venezuela left the country

• The government of Nicolás Maduro announced on July 29 its decision to expel diplomats from seven countries

The Argentine embassy staff in Venezuela left the country on August 1 following the decision of Nicolás Maduro’s government, announced last Monday, to expel diplomatic personnel from seven countries in the region for their positions on the president’s re-election on July 28.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of the Argentine Republic announces that diplomatic personnel, military attachés and administrative attachés who were serving at the Argentine Embassy in Venezuela left the country with their families,” the Argentine Foreign Ministry announced in a statement.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship had announced on Thursday morning that Brazil would assume custody of the premises of the Argentine mission in Caracas, as well as the protection of opponents of the Maduro government, who have been sheltered in the embassy residence since March 20.

The Maduro government also demanded the withdrawal of diplomatic representatives from Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay, in rejection of their “interventionist actions and statements” regarding the presidential elections.

Brazil assumed the Argentine representation

In the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Argentina expressed its gratitude for the “generosity” of the Brazilian government, which, according to official information, will be responsible for the custody of the premises of the Argentine mission in Caracas, including the embassy and official residence, its assets and archives, as well as “the protection of its interests and the interests of Argentine nationals in Venezuelan territory.”

“The custody of Argentine diplomatic missions involves political asylum seekers from the Venezuelan opposition,” who have been under protection at the Argentine residence in Caracas since March 20, 2024 and were unable to leave the country with the embassy staff, according to the Foreign Ministry, “due to the Venezuelan government’s failure to comply with the Caracas Convention on Diplomatic Asylum.”

Photo: EFE/ Henry Chirinos

For his part, Argentine President Javier Milei “enormously” thanked Brazil, a country governed by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with whom the libertarian maintains a distant personal relationship due to ideological issues, for the gesture.

In a message posted on his social media account X, the ultra-liberal politician highlighted the “ties of friendship” between his country and Brazil, which “are very strong and historic,” and expressed his conviction that he will “soon” reopen his embassy “in a free and democratic Venezuela.”

In the days following the elections held in Venezuela, the results of which were denounced by the opposition and by part of the international community, Milei’s government had expressed its concern for the safety of the six opposition politicians, to whom it granted asylum status and for whom it was negotiating a safe-conduct pass, which it did not obtain.

According to the Argentine government, the diplomatic headquarters was subject to “harassment” by security agents on August 30.

With information from EFE

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