Brazil to maintain custody of Argentine embassy in Caracas

Itamaraty ensures the permanence of the Brazilian representation until another country is chosen to occupy Argentina’s diplomatic mission. “There can be no unilateral revocation of custody”, says the agency. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced this Saturday (07/09) that Brazil will continue to represent Argentina’s interests in Venezuela, despite the government of President Nicolás Maduro revoking the authorization for the country to maintain custody of the Argentine diplomatic representation.

The Argentine embassy in Caracas has been under siege since Friday night. Following the expulsion of the diplomatic mission by the government of Javier Milei on August 1, the site is under the custody of Brazil, which is also responsible for six opposition refugees there.

This Saturday, Venezuela announced the revocation of authorization for the Brazilian government to represent Argentina’s interests in the country. “The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has taken the decision to immediately revoke the approval granted by the government of the Federative Republic of Brazil to represent the interests of the Argentine Republic and its nationals in Venezuelan territory,” the Venezuelan government said in a statement.

Venezuela claimed it was forced to take this decision based on evidence of the alleged use of the embassy to plan “terrorist activities” and attempted murders against Maduro and Vice President Delcy Rodríguez. The Venezuelan government said it was complying with the precepts of the country’s justice system and that it was acting in accordance with the Vienna Conventions.

“There can be no unilateral revocation”

The Itamaraty reacted to the Venezuelan decision by stating that, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE), “there can be no unilateral revocation of custody”.

A statement released by the agency states that “the Brazilian government received with surprise the communication from the Venezuelan government that it intends to revoke its consent for Brazil to protect Argentina’s interests in Venezuela.”

Through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government “reported that it will continue to represent Argentina’s interests in Venezuela until a replacement is designated.” “Until another country is designated to represent Argentina’s interests, the situation will remain as it is,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“In accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic Relations and Consular Relations, Brazil will remain in charge of the custody and defense of Argentine interests until the Argentine government indicates another State acceptable to the Venezuelan government to exercise the aforementioned functions.” The Itamaraty note also highlights that these same conventions guarantee the inviolability of the Argentine embassy.

Oppositionists sheltered in the embassy

The siege of the embassy was initially reported by the opposition party Vente Venezuela (VV), which warned on Friday night that Argentina’s diplomatic headquarters in Caracas was under “siege” by hooded men. Under Brazilian custody, the Argentine diplomatic mission is also housing six refugees from the Venezuelan opposition.

According to the VV, led by María Corina Machado, who was prevented from running in the July presidential elections by the Chavista regime, the action was ordered by Maduro.

“Patrols with regime agents continue to arrive at the headquarters of the Argentine embassy in Caracas. We hold Nicolás Maduro responsible for this siege against our leaders in asylum,” he wrote on the social network X.

Previously, VV international coordinator Pedro Urruchurtu – one of the refugees – had stated that agents from the Directorate of Strategic and Tactical Actions (DAET) of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) and the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN), together with “hooded and armed officials”, were surrounding the site.

Former deputy Omar González, also in asylum, denounced the cut in the electricity supply to his residence, which is now supplied by a power generator.

In addition to Urruchurtu and González, Magalli Meda, who was campaign manager for the presidential election; Claudia Macero, VV communications coordinator; Humberto Villalobos, electoral coordinator of the VV Campaign Command; and former minister Fernando Martínez Mottola, advisor to the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), the main opposition bloc, are at the embassy.

Argentina files suit against ICC

The Argentine government has asked a prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to request the Court’s Pre-Trial Chamber “to issue arrest warrants against Nicolás Maduro” and other Venezuelan government leaders.

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, stated in a post on X that “threats and actions are completely contrary to the law and are not acceptable in any way by the international community.”

rc (DW, ots)