- According to Chilean ambassador Jaime Gazmuri, this is an “arbitrary, unprecedented, unusual, unexpected” measure by the Venezuelan government | Main photo: EFE
The Chilean ambassador to Venezuela, Jaime Gazmuri, along with a group of diplomats from that country arrived at the Santiago de Chile airport on August 3 following the expulsion order issued by President Nicolás Maduro.
“We deeply regret this unprecedented measure adopted, in an absolutely unjustified manner, by the government of Nicolás Maduro (…). It speaks very badly of the diplomatic practices of a government, of a Latin American country,” said Chilean Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren, after receiving the delegation that arrived from Caracas.
Gazmuri described the measure taken by the Venezuelan government as “arbitrary, unprecedented, unusual, unexpected,” as it forced Chilean diplomacy to relocate all personnel and their families in a short period of time.
“I would like to highlight the quality of the work that has been done in these years to normalize relations with Venezuela, which are always very complex, very delicate relations. A country that is suffering from a very deep crisis,” he said.
In addition to Chile, Venezuela ordered the withdrawal of its ambassadors from Argentina, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay, and expelled its diplomatic missions from the country.
Following the closure of the Venezuelan Embassy in Santiago and the “indefinite suspension” In addition to all their consular procedures, dozens of Venezuelan citizens have been waiting in front of the building for days to obtain information about their immigration status and other matters.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric was one of the first international leaders to demand transparency in the vote count and to question the results announced in the early hours of July 29 by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which declared Nicolás Maduro the winnerwith 51.2% of the votes and 80% of the minutes counted.
The return of Argentine diplomats
Just as the Chilean diplomats were expelled, the Argentine representation in Venezuela arrived in Buenos Aires on August 3 after learning of the decision of Nicolás Maduro’s government to expel them from the country.
“We had to leave the residence and the embassy within 72 hours. A team of five diplomats, each with their families, a total of 14 people. Schools for the children had to be closed, leases had to be cancelled, cars had to be sold,” said Andrés Mangiarotti, chargé d’affaires of the Argentine embassy in Caracas, speaking to the press after landing at the Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Buenos Aires.
Maduro’s announcement came on the evening of July 29, following a series of statements by the Argentine government and President Javier Milei’s decision not to recognize the results of the presidential elections held on July 28.
According to Mangiarotti, the climate before the election was “tense”, but he acknowledged that they did not expect to have to “escape” the country in such a short time and pointed out that some diplomats even had to leave homes where they had lived for the past 20 years.
The diplomat added that since the day after the elections, the residence of the Argentine embassy was monitored by the Venezuelan police and suffered “intimidation” and the power supply was cut off. Mangiarotti said that on at least one occasion police cars showed up during the night with armed and hooded men.
“They were quite tense days for the whole team. We had been sleeping for three hours,” said the diplomat, who, along with the rest of the embassy staff, undertook a journey of more than 30 hours with stops on the Portuguese island of Madeira, another in Lisbon and a final one in Madrid, before leaving for Buenos Aires.
With information from EFE
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2024-08-04 12:33:57