MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Venezuelan regime keeps targeting Argentine Embassy in Caracas

The premises now guarded by Brazil after the diplomatic breakup must be protected in accordance with international law, Buenos Aires insisted

Argentine authorities denounced during the weekend that the diplomatic mission in Caracas -now under Brazil's protection following the diplomatic breakup between the governments of Nicolás Maduro and Javier Miei- has been placed under siege, targetting the six aides of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado who sought asylum there earlier this year.

One of them -Pedro Urruchurtu Noselli- spoke on social networks about “hooded men” in the surroundings, presumably members of Veneuela's Directorate of Strategic and Tactical Actions (DAET). Noselli also said access to the building was being blocked.

“Hooded DAET officials with long weapons are once again besieging the residence of the Argentine Embassy in Caracas, protected by Brazil. They surround the diplomatic headquarters and block the accesses in the street,” warned Urruchurtu Noselli after alerting about a power cut.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, who many claim was the legitimate winner of the July 28 elections, posted on social networks that “the siege to our fellow refugees at the Embassy of Argentina in Caracas continues.”

He also added from exile in Spain that “we are very attentive and alerting all countries and allies of what may happen. Reactions will not be long in coming.”

“I alert the world of what may happen to the comrades who are refugees in the Argentine embassy in Caracas. They are being besieged by hooded people,” he added.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado's command also issued a statement rejecting these maneuvers: “This repeated action constitutes a clear violation of international conventions on asylum and diplomacy signed by the Venezuelan State, as well as an attack on the rights of the politically persecuted, which the world must condemn. We reiterate our call for the issuance, as soon as possible, of the corresponding safe-conducts for our comrades.”

“The deployment of armed troops, the closing of streets around our Embassy, and other maneuvers constitute a disturbance of the security that must be guaranteed to diplomatic headquarters in accordance with international law, as well as to those who have requested diplomatic asylum,” the Foreign Ministry in Buenos Aires also posted on X.

“The Argentine Republic calls on the international community to condemn these practices and demand the necessary safe-conducts to allow the departure of the asylum-seekers,” it went on.

“We thank the government of Brazil for representing Argentine interests in Venezuela, assuming the protection of diplomatic premises, and for its efforts to guarantee the safety of the asylum seekers in the face of harassment by the Venezuelan regime,” the San Martín Palace added.