Venezuela denies ‘besieging’ Argentina’s Embassy in Caracas

Venezuela's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello on Monday denied on Monday that the government is besieging Argentina’s Embassy in Caracas.

The remarks came after President Javier Milei’s government in Buenos Aires accused Venezuela of carrying out a campaign of “harassment” on the diplomatic building.

Six collaborators of opposition leader María Corina Machado took refuge in the Caracas Embassy in March, including campaign manager, Magalli Meda.

“Javier Milei is the fascist who governs Argentina .... I don't know what he calls harassing someone in his Embassy, I don't know, I really don't know what he is accusing us of now,” Cabello said at a weekly press conference of the ruling Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela.

On Saturday, Argentina's Foreign Ministry denounced “acts of harassment and intimidation against the persons under asylum.” 

It demanded that Venezuela issue “the necessary safe-conduct” so that those seeking refuge can leave the country. 

“The deployment of armed troops, the closing of streets around our Embassy and other manoeuvres constitute a disturbance of the security that should be guaranteed to diplomatic headquarters in accordance with international law, as well as to those who have requested diplomatic asylum,” read a statement. 

Argentina’s government has also denounced power cuts at the Embassy.

“Let them pay for the electricity, let them pay for the services, we are not going to give them anything for free,” Cabello quipped on Monday.

The minister, one of President Nicolás Maduro’s key officials, also referred to Machado, whom he described as a “terrorist.”

The opposition leader has been in hiding since July 28 after denouncing alleged fraud in the vote that returned Maduro to power for another term, a result that much of the international community has questioned. 

The opposition maintains that the election was won by its candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who fled to Spain in exile after the Venezuelan authorities issued a warrant for his arrest. 

“Impunity is over for the terrorist María Corina, for the terrorists who accompany her, for those who generate violence, for those who call for sanctions,” Cabello said.

Brazil announced in August that it was taking custody of Argentina's diplomatic delegation with permission from Caracas, which a month later reversed its decision. 

The Brazilian government of Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva, which has refused to recognise Maduro as the winner of the presidential election, subsequently said it would continue to defend Argentina's interests. 

– TIMES/AFP