By Caribbean News Now contributor
OTTAWA, Ontario – Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has announced the “temporary” closure of Canada’s embassy and the removal of diplomatic staff from Venezuela, insisting Ottawa had “no choice.”
In a Sunday press statement, the Canadian diplomat blamed the Maduro administration of having “taken steps to limit the ability of foreign embassies to function” by its failure to renew visas for diplomatic staff. No proof was presented to back the claim. She also alleged that that the Caribbean nation is “slid[ing] deeper into dictatorship.”
The decision is to take immediate effect, with diplomatic visas reportedly expected to expire at the end of June. All consular and embassy services are to be assigned to the Colombian capital of Bogota over 1,500 kilometres away. Freeland further indicated that Ottawa would “evaluate” the status of Venezuelan diplomats in Canada “appointed by Maduro.”
Canada was the second country to acknowledge Juan Guaidó after he swore himself in as “interim president” on January 23. Canada continues to back Guaidó’s efforts to remove the Maduro regime and has started to forge diplomatic relations with the opposition leader’s representative in Canada, Orlando Viera Blanco, who has held many conferences with government diplomats and members of parliament in Vancouver and Ottawa. Canada has also followed the United States in imposing several rounds of sanctions on Venezuela.
It is undetermined how many Canadian citizens in Venezuela this decision will affect, but recent opposition-led assessments indicate that there are up to…
