Argentine President Javier Milei and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva on Thursday (Aug. 1) set aside ideological differences that have estranged them and agreed to place the Argentine Embassy in Caracas under Brazilian supervision, including protection for six Venezuelan opposition figures who have sought asylum there.
Argentina's Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that Argentine diplomatic officials in Venezuela would leave the country, as requested by the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro a few days ago.
The ministry added that Brazil would safeguard the premises of the Argentine mission in Caracas, “including the embassy and official residence, its belongings and archives, and the protection of its interests.”
“What Argentina did here, after removing its personnel from the country, is that it reached an agreement with Brazil so that Brazil took over the guarding of its headquarters. Brazil thus made the Argentine Embassy part of its diplomatic building,” explained leading professor and political analyst at the University of Venezuela, Benigno Alarcon.
The decision reached by the two countries at the request of the Milei government also includes “political asylum seekers from the Venezuelan opposition” who have been under protection in the Caracas residence since March 20, the statement added.
According to the Venezuelan government, the asylum seekers are linked to an alleged plot to commit violence, which has not been proven.
Argentina has questioned why Venezuela has repeatedly refused to grant permission to leave the country.
Expulsion of diplomatic staff
The Venezuelan government on Monday (29/7) ordered diplomatic staff from Argentina and six other Latin American countries to leave the country within 72 hours after they questioned Maduro's claim that he won an election without a vote count, which he held on Sunday (28/7).
Milei, a right-winger who has had strained relations with Lula, welcomed the move.
“I greatly appreciate Brazil's willingness to take over the Argentine embassy in Venezuela. We also thank you for the momentary representation of the interests of the Argentine Republic and its citizens there,” he said on the X account.
He added that the departure of Argentine diplomatic staff was “retaliation from dictator Maduro for our condemnation of the fraud committed last Sunday.”
“I have no doubt that we will soon reopen our embassy in a free and democratic Venezuela,” said the president, who has also spoken out publicly and with harsh words at the leftist Venezuelan leader on several occasions.
Pressure increases
Pressure from several countries on Maduro has increased after the National Electoral Council (CNE) on Monday officially declared him the winner of the election with 51 percent of the vote to 44 percent for opposition candidate Edmundo González, a result not recognized by the Venezuelan opposition and several other countries.
Tensions reached a peak when the Venezuelan government decided to expel diplomats from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay, accusing those countries of “interference” in ignoring the election results.
The Lula government stressed that it would maintain Argentina's diplomatic missions based on the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. (em/jm)
