MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazilian flag flies over Argentine Embassy in Caracas

Brazil is also representing Peruvian interests in Venezuela

The Brazilian flag was hoisted Thursday at the Argentine Embassy in Caracas, where six Venezuelan asylum seekers were left behind by the departing diplomatic team.

 Opposition leaders Pedro Urruchurtu Noselli, Humberto Villalobos, Claudia Macero, Omar González, Fernando Martínez and Mottola Magalí Meda have remained there since March waiting for a safe passage to the airport from the Nicolás Maduro regime that never came.

Argentine President Javier Milei thanked the Brazilian government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for the gesture despite the rivalry between the two heads of state.

“As of today, the Argentine diplomatic, consular and defense attachés working at the Argentine Embassy in Caracas will leave the country as a consequence of the notice issued by the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on July 29,” said the San Martín Palace in a statement.

“I am very grateful for Brazil's willingness to take over the custody of the Argentine Embassy in Venezuela. We are also grateful for the momentary representation of the interests of the Argentine Republic and its citizens there,” Milei wrote on X.

“Today the Argentine diplomatic staff had to leave Venezuela as a reprisal by the dictator Maduro for the condemnation we made of the fraud perpetrated last Sunday. The ties of friendship that unite Argentina with Brazil are very strong and historic,” he added.

Maduro has expelled the diplomatic missions of Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay for not recognizing his victory in Sunday's electilns as announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE).

At least 16 people have been killed in the ensuing protests and over 1,000 were arrested.

Maduro filed a case before the Supreme Court (TSJ) to rule on the elections, saying he has proof of his victory and was “willing to produce 100% of the minutes” while blaming opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia for the dead. In this scenario, Brazil has also taken up the representation of Peru's mission in Venezuela. Peru has not only failed to acknowledge Maduro's alleged reelection but also recognized Gonzalez Urrutia as the legitimate winner.