Brazil resumes consular service in Syria and moves towards reopening embassy

At the beginning of December, faced with the fall of Bashar Al Assad’s government, the ambassador left Syria and is now in Beirut. There was no rupture in the relationship between the two countries. The detachment occurred only to ensure the safety of employees.

He told the Facto News that the decision to leave Damascus was made due to the security situation, which was already deteriorating and leading several embassies to consider leaving Damascus.

In the first days of December, Brazilian embassy employees were sent out of the country. But the ambassador stayed. A week later he was also withdrawn.

According to him, Israeli aviation, which was already bombing several parts of the country and Damascus, began a more frequent and more intense bombing. One of these attacks occurred near the embassy neighborhood. “The attack was against an airfield, which is three kilometers from the embassy,” said the diplomat.

“But what was shocking is that the explosives that were thrown were so strong that it far surpassed the bombings that took place even closer to the embassy. I was in my office. With the shock wave, I literally saw the window go in. It almost imploded The noise was even more violent,” he said.

“These much stronger explosions led me to ask Brasilia to include me on the list of people to leave Damascus. Minister Mauro Vieira himself called me and asked what he could do to guarantee our safety,” he said.