Maduro to travel to Russia –

MOSCOW (EFE).— The Kremlin said yesterday that it will activate preparations for a visit by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to the country now that Russia has declared him the winner of last Sunday’s presidential elections, despite accusations of fraud by the opposition.

“Now that he has become the winner of the election, it can be assumed that preparations will of course be intensified,” he told Komsomolskaya Pravda radio.

Peskov said the visit had been planned for a long time, but it was impossible to reconcile the agendas of Maduro and Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, after which the electoral campaign in Venezuela also began.

Now, he added, the visit “will take place within the timeframes that the leaders consider appropriate.”

Peskov called this week on the Venezuelan opposition to accept its defeat in the presidential elections and congratulate Maduro on his victory at the polls.

Putin on Monday congratulated Maduro on his election victory, telling him that he was always welcome in his country, while Russian deputies and senators who participated as observers denied any fraud by the government.

Two Kremlin allies in Latin America, Cuba and Nicaragua, are among the few countries in the region that have accepted Maduro’s “electoral victory.”

Asylum seekers

On the other hand, the staff of the Argentine embassy in Venezuela left the Caribbean country yesterday following the decision of the Maduro 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 announced early yesterday 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.