Foreign Minister Arreaza Denounces Brazil for Seeking to Expel Venezuelan Diplomats Bypassing the Legal Timing (Communique)

The Brazilian government is trying to force the exit of the Venezuelan diplomatic and consular personnel before May the foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, denounced on Thursday through a communique. “Venezuela informs the international community about the violation of international law by the government of Brazil, by forcing the departure of our diplomatic and consular personnel before May 2, alleging negotiations that have never been held,” the foreign minister wrote on Twitter.

Venezuela informs the international community about the violation of International Law by the Brazilian Government, forcing the exit of our diplomatic and consular personnel before May 2, alleging negotiations that have never been held. https :// pic.twitter.com/rL7UBM7Fn8 https://t.co/DquIx0ybNE
— Orinoco Tribune (@OrinocoTribune) April 30, 2020

Below the full official translation:

Venezuela denounces undue pressure from the Brazilian government to withdraw its diplomatic personnel from that country

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela complies with its responsibility to inform the international community of the undue pressure exerted by the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil, in seeking to force the untimely departure of Venezuelan diplomatic and consular personnel from that country before May 2, citing alleged prior negotiations, which have never taken place.

Not satisfied with the serious consequences suffered by the Brazilian people when the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic in Latin America was moved to that country as a result of the attitude of denial, the government of Mr. Jair Bolsonaro now intends to sum up the disregard of the Venezuelan community in Brazil, with a maneuver that seeks to provoke the technical closure of the Venezuelan consular offices in that country, after having abandoned its own compatriots with the unilateral withdrawal of Brazilian diplomatic and consular personnel in Venezuela.

International law is clear about the mechanisms available for countries to address their differences in terms of diplomatic and consular relations, with the Vienna Conventions providing the procedures for declaring diplomatic and consular agents inadmissible, as well as the regime derived from the administration of consular offices and the custody of assets and records, none of which has been negotiated at any time between the governments of Brazil and Venezuela.

Therefore, it is reported that Venezuelan diplomatic and consular personnel in Brazil will not abandon their functions under subterfuges unrelated to international law, whose only purpose is to deceive the public opinion of that country, in order to disguise their open subordination to the United States government that today governs the once prestigious Brazilian foreign policy.

Caracas, April 30th, 2020

Source URL: Alba Ciudad with OT content

Translated and edited by JRE/EF