Diplomatic incident in Caracas, where law enforcement has surrounded the residence of the Argentine embassy since Friday evening, September 6. Members of the campaign team of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado have taken refuge there. The Venezuelan government has announced the end of Brazil’s protection of this residence, a situation that has lasted since the expulsion of the Argentine diplomatic mission in early August.
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With our correspondent in Caracas, Alice Campaignolle
Fearing arrest by the regime in Venezuelasix opposition leaders have been living in the residence of the Argentine ambassador in Caracas since last March. But on the evening of Friday, September 6, the six opponents alerted on social networks of the surrounding of the building by hooded law enforcement officers.
Since the expulsion of the Argentine diplomatic mission in early August, because the country did not recognize Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the presidential election, this building has been monitored and protected by Brazil. But on Saturday, the Venezuelan government revoked this authorization, ensuring that it has ” evidence ” of the use of the residence for planning terrorist actions and attempts to assassinate the president.
Brazil does not intend to give in to pressure from Caracas
Brasilia quickly responded by stating that the country will continue to defend Argentine interests until another state is appointed to do so. The Vienna Convention provides for the inviolability of diplomatic missions. If Venezuelan law enforcement were to enter the residence of the Argentine embassy, it would be a violation of the treaty. A precedent already took place in Quito last April, without however involving Venezuela. Ecuadorian police then forcibly entered the Mexican embassy in the Ecuadorian capital.
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