The siege of the Argentine Embassy and ambassador's residence in Venezuela includes two non-consecutive sieges that occurred from July 30 to September 1, 2024, and from September 7 to 8, 2024, by the government of Nicolás Maduro in the context of the Venezuelan post-electoral crisis.[1]
Friction arose between Argentina's right-wing government and Venezuela's socialist government after Argentine president Javier Milei became a leader of those alleging that that Maduro stole the July 2024 presidential election.[2]
In March 2024, after Machado's campaign manager Magalli Meda was indicted for allegedly propagating destabilising political violence, she and five others sought refuge and political asylum at the Argentine Embassy in Venezuela and were permitted to stay at the Ambassador's Residence.[2] Shortly after, electricity was cut to the building.[3][4][5] On July 30, Pedro Urruchurtu, a political asylum seeker, reported a siege of the place.[6]
In August 2024, Venezuela’s top prosecutor (Tarek William Saab) began a criminal investigation against Venezuelan opposition leaders Edmundo González and María Corina Machado for calling on troops to oppose Maduro.[7] On September 2, an arrest warrant was issued for González for the alleged crimes of "usurpation of functions, falsification of public documents, instigation to disobey the law, conspiracy and association".[8] After the election, González had sought refuge secretly in the Dutch Embassy through September 5,[9][10] after which he spent several days in the Spanish embassy in Caracas, was granted asylum, and left on a Spanish Armed Forces flight on September 7, 2024.[11]
When Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced his decision to "immediately and unilaterally" revoke Brazil's permission to guard the embassy, which it had held since August 1, "patrols by Venezuelan intelligence services and security forces surrounding the official building in Caracas" were again reported, this time in a formal complaint by the Argentine Foreign Ministry.[12]
On September 8, 2024, shortly after presidential candidate Edmundo González arrived in Spain, electricity was restored and the siege ended.[13]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Venezuela: Forces surround embassy sheltering opposition figures". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
- ^ a b "Venezuela revokes Brazil's custody of Argentine embassy housing Maduro opponents". The Guardian. 8 September 2024. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
- ^ Magramo, Mauricio Torres, Kathleen (27 March 2024). "Argentina accuses Venezuela of cutting power to its embassy in Caracas after hosting opposition leaders". CNN. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Venezuela revokes Brazil's custody of diplomatic mission housing six Maduro opponents". NBC 6 South Florida. 7 September 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
- ^ Criales, José Pablo (27 March 2024). "El Gobierno argentino acoge a seis opositores venezolanos en su Embajada de Caracas". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- ^ "El enviado de Lula en Caracas intenta una mediación por los asilados en la Embajada: cortaron la luz y el agua". La Política Online (in Spanish).
- ^ "Venezuela's top prosecutor announces criminal probe against opposition leaders González and Machado". AP News. 5 August 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
- ^ Sequera, Vivian; Armas, Mayela (2 September 2024). "Venezuela issues arrest warrant for opposition leader Gonzalez, AG says". Reuters. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
- ^ Rueda, Jorge; Goodman, Joshua; Wilson, Joseph (8 September 2024). "Opposition presidential candidate González flees Venezuela for asylum in Spain". Associated Press. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- ^ "In diepste geheim bood Nederland onderdak aan oppositieleider Venezuela" [The Netherlands secretly offered shelter to Venezuelan opposition leader]. RTL Nederland (in Dutch). 8 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- ^ "Edmundo González abandonó Venezuela tras solicitar asilo político en España" [Edmundo González left Venezuela after requesting political asylum in Spain]. El Diario de Caracas (in Spanish). 7 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- ^ "Tensión en Caracas: Argentina advirtió a Venezuela por cualquier intento de intromisión en su Embajada". infobae (in European Spanish). 7 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
- ^ "Gobierno de Maduro cesa el asedio y restituye servicio eléctrico en Embajada de Argentina / Maduro government ceases siege and restores electricity service to the Embassy of Argentina".