Above photo: Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, during a speech he gave in his bunker on the day of the general elections in 2023. Marcelo Capece/file photo.
The Venezuelan Minister for Foreign Affairs Yván Gil, through a statement, announced that the Venezuelan government decided to withdraw all diplomatic personnel from its embassies in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay. The announcement followed the unprecedented interventionist aggression and interference in Venezuelan internal affairs carried out by these seven countries. In addition, the minister requested that the governments of these countries immediately withdraw their representatives from Venezuelan territory.
In diplomatic jargon, this essentially constitutes a complete diplomatic rupture. However, the information released by Venezuelan authorities does not clarify if they will include consular personnel in this unprecedented decision of Venezuelan diplomacy.
Before, during, and after the presidential elections, presidents, foreign affairs ministers, and high-ranking officials of these countries launched an unprecedented and synchronized campaign of attacks and statements that blatantly interfered in Venezuelan internal affairs and the presidential election process. For example, the Argentinian president, Javier Milei, referred to President Maduro as a “dictator” and Argentina’s foreign minister posted on social media that the electoral results announced by the Venezuelan electoral power were not truthful.
#Comunicado 📢 Venezuela expresa su más firme rechazo ante las injerencistas acciones y declaraciones de un grupo de gobiernos de derecha, subordinados a Washington y comprometidos abiertamente con los más sórdidos postulados ideológicos del fascismo internacional, tratando… pic.twitter.com/l0dAaNSnEA
— Yvan Gil (@yvangil) July 29, 2024
The presidents of all these countries are subservient of the dictates of the government of the United States. For this reason, many analysts believe that their synchronized attacks are being carried out in response to instructions they received from Washington in an attempt to revive the defunct Lima Group assembled in 2017 by Donald Trump in an attempt to diplomatically isolate Venezuela.
On Monday morning, the US Secretary of State issued statements indicating that the US would renew its non-recognition of the electoral will of Venezuelans who, on Sunday, decided that President Maduro should lead their country for another term.
“We have serious concerns that the results announced do not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people… the international community is watching this very closely and will respond accordingly,” said US Secretary of State Blinken during a press conference in Tokyo, Japan.
Below is the unofficial translation of the statement:
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela expresses its strongest rejection of the interventionist actions and statements of a group of right-wing governments, subordinate to Washington and openly committed to the most sordid ideological postulates of international fascism, trying to re-enact the failed and defeated Lima Group, which seek to ignore the electoral results of the presidential elections held this Sunday, July 28, 2024, which gave victory as President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to Nicolás Maduro Moros, for the upcoming constitutional term 2025-2031.
The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in light of this disastrous precedent that threatens our national sovereignty, has decided to withdraw all diplomatic personnel from the missions in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay, while demanding that these governments immediately withdraw their representatives from Venezuelan territory.
Likewise, the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reserves all legal and political actions to demand respect, to preserve and defend our inalienable right to self-determination.
The Bolivarian government will confront all actions that threaten the climate of peace and coexistence that has demanded so much effort from the Venezuelan people, which is why we are against all interventionist and harassing statements that repeatedly attempt to ignore the will of the Venezuelan people.
Caracas, July 29, 2024.