Brazil leaves custody of Argentine Embassy in Venezuela amid tension with Milei
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to leave custody of the Argentine Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, which had been taken over in August 2024 after clashes between Argentine President Javier Milei and then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro that led to the expulsion of Argentine diplomats from the country.
The information was revealed by the newspaper La Nation and confirmed by Estadão. The decision of the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) was communicated to the Argentine authorities, who must resume the post or assign custody to another neighboring country, and to the management of the interim president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodrigues. When contacted, Itamaraty declined to comment.
Estadão found that the decision came from Brazil. The relationship between the Lula and Milei governments has been noisy since the beginning and has become increasingly frayed. While Lula criticized the United States invasion of Venezuelan territory to arrest Maduro, Milei celebrated the American action and took a stance against left-wing Latin American governments that have analyzed the Venezuela issue from a perspective of national sovereignty.
Read more: Javier Milei celebrates Maduro’s arrest: ‘freedom advances’
According to the newspaper La NationItamaraty communicated Argentine diplomacy last Friday, the 9th, the same day that the free trade agreement between Mercosur – the economic bloc of which the two countries are part – and the European Union was signed. Also according to the Argentine outlet, the Lula government made the decision after Milei posted a video with insinuations towards Lula.
In the post shared by Milei on social media, he defended American action in Venezuela while inserting images of the Brazilian president. The video ended with a photo of Lula hugging Maduro.
During the period of more than a year in which it took over the Argentine Embassy, Brazil hosted six opponents of the Maduro government who collaborated with María Corina Machado and were sheltered in the country’s diplomatic representation.
