The The Argentine Foreign Ministry on Friday urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to request an arrest warrant against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, “and other leaders of the regime,” “given the worsening of the situation” following the presidential elections in the Caribbean country on July 28.
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“Given the worsening of the situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela since July 28 and the commission of new acts that may be considered crimes against humanity, the Argentine Republic urges the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to request the Pre-Trial Chamber to issue arrest warrants against Nicolás Maduro and other leaders of the regime,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Argentine government also announced that it will submit a note to the Prosecutor’s Office on Monday in which it argues that “the evidence gathered in the course of the investigations carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court and the events that occurred after the presidential elections of July 28 are sufficient elements to consider the merit of issuing the aforementioned arrest warrants.”
The Foreign Ministry’s statement also recalled that on July 19, Argentina rejoined the complaint against Venezuela before the ICC filed in 2018 by several countries, and from which it had withdrawn in 2021, during the Government of Alberto Fernández.
Friday’s announcement comes hours after Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino said during the Third Regional Meeting of the Madrid Forum that the situation in Venezuela is “sad” and added: “If there is any way we can help to achieve a quick and peaceful solution, all the better.”
After being one of the first to denounce fraud in the Venezuelan elections, which according to the National Electoral Council gave victory to Maduro, the Government of Javier Milei recognized the opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the “undisputed winner” of the elections on August 7.
Following the ultra-liberal president’s statements, Maduro’s government decided to expel Argentine diplomatic personnel from Caracas one day after the elections, a measure that was also applied to six other Latin American countries.
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