Venezuela’s foreign ministry statement limits the number of accredited diplomats to 3 per country and imposes travel restrictions, citing their governments’ outcry over President Nicolas Maduro’s inauguration.
Source: Le Monde with AFP
Venezuela said, on Tuesday, January 14, that it would limit the number of accredited diplomats at the French, Italian and Dutch embassies, citing their governments’ “hostile” response to Nicolas Maduro’s inauguration for a third presidential term.
Maduro, 62, is embroiled in a standoff with the West and several Latin American countries over his disputed claim to have won another six year-term in July 28 elections that he has been widely accused of stealing. The United States, European Union, G7 and several democratic neighbors have refused to recognize his reelection, and France, Italy and the Netherlands last week loudly condemned Maduro’s administration.
You can share an article by clicking on the share icons at the top right of it.
The total or partial reproduction of an article, without the prior written authorization of Le Monde, is strictly forbidden.
For more information, see our Terms and Conditions.
For all authorization requests, contact [email protected].
The Venezuelan foreign ministry said the diplomats – a maximum of three per country – would also need “written authorization (…) to travel more than 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Plaza Bolivar” in the capital Caracas. Due to the new travel restrictions, any trip outside the capital will now require a government permit. The international airport, Simon Bolivar, which serves Caracas, is 23 kilometers from the Plaza Bolivar.
On Tuesday, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Yvan Gil took to Telegram to accuse the three governments of “support for extremist groups” and “interference in the country’s internal affairs.” “Venezuela demands respect for sovereignty and self-determination (…) especially from those subordinated to the directives of Washington,” wrote Gil.
Within 48 hours, he said, the embassies must each reduce their number of accredited diplomats to three.
The Dutch government responded by accusing Maduro of escalation: “This is an escalation by Maduro that will make dialogue all the more complicated,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said in a statement to Agence France-Presse, adding that there would “certainly be a response.”
Isolated
The opposition says its tally of results from the July vote showed a clear victory for its candidate, 75-year-old Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who went into exile in Spain in September after first taking refuge at the Dutch embassy.
Venezuela’s CNE electoral council, loyal to the regime, had announced victory for Maduro within hours of polls closing. It never provided a detailed vote breakdown.
In a sign of Maduro’s isolation, only two prominent regional leaders – Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and Nicaraguan ex-guerrilla Daniel Ortega – attended his inauguration. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his congratulations and China’s Xi Jinping sent a special envoy.
Washington and London promptly issued a bevy of sanctions on Maduro’s regime for staging what the opposition called a coup.
‘Violent rhetoric’
Critics denounced a fresh crackdown on opponents and critics in the lead-up to Friday’s swearing-in ceremony, with several activists and opposition figures detained. More than 2,400 people were arrested, 28 killed and about 200 injured in protests that erupted after Maduro disputed claim to election victory.
French President Emmanuel Macron last week insisted “the will of the Venezuelan people must be respected” in a call with Gonzalez Urrutia, recognized by several countries as the legitimate president-elect.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni denounced “another unacceptable act of repression by the Maduro regime” after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was briefly detained at an anti-Maduro rally on the eve of his inauguration.
Veldkamp, writing on X, expressed deep “respect” for Machado and voiced concern about the “increased violent rhetoric of the Maduro regime and reports of recent arrests.”
