MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina recognizes Guaidó's ambassador as Venezuelan government representative

Venezuelan ambassador Elisa Trotta with Argentine foreign minister Jorge Faurie

Elisa Trotta is the new Venezuelan ambassador in Argentina, following the acceptance of her Credentials by Argentine foreign minister Jorge Faurie. According to an Argentine foreign ministry release, Ms Trotta will make her official presentation to president Mauricio Macri sometime this week.

Ms Trotta has been in Argentina since the beginning of the year, following the visit of Juan Guaidó, Venezuelan interim president and president of the elected National Assembly.

At the time Ms Trotta was acknowledged as the representative of interim president Guaidó.

Following the presentation of her Credentials to president Macri, “Ms Trotta will be representing all Venezuelans resident in Argentina and will also be entitled to address consular affairs”.

This means that the Argentine government recognizes Ms Elisa Trotta as the legitimate representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Argentina, points out the official release.

Interviewed by a Buenos Aires radio station, Faurie said that Argentina has not broken diplomatic relations with Venezuela. “We haven't broken relations. States keep relations, which is independent of governments”, argued Faurie adding that he was expecting that diplomats from the regime of Nicolas Maduro had left Argentina, since “their time was up”.

Faurie recalled that together with the Lima Group, Argentina had requested the Maduro regime to respect human rights, but to no avail. Likewise bilateral trade is practically nonexistent.

“Several Argentine companies had investments and contracts in Venezuela, both in the construction and the oil industries, but they have been frozen for years”, underlined the Argentine official.

Furthermore, “we have no cultural relations of significance or others, social or sports. The Venezuelan crisis is of such magnitude that it puts an end to all known activities of any organized society”.