The Diplomat
The government of Nicolás Maduro declared yesterday “persona non grata” the ambassador of the European Union in Caracas, the Portuguese Isabel Brilhante, to whom he gave 72 hours to leave Venezuela. The Bolivarian regime thus responded to the sanctions approved by the EU Foreign Affairs Council against 19 Chavista officials.
The decision was communicated to the European delegate at the Foreign Ministry headquarters by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jorge Arreaza, pointing out that his Government considers the EU measures as an interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs.
Arreaza, whose Ministry disseminated on social networks images of the moment of the delivery of the expulsion order to Brilhante, alleged that the circumstances “leave no choice”, since he considers that the pressure measures promoted from the EU violate the Constitution and, in particular, its article one, according to which the country “is irrevocably free and independent”.
The Minister recalled that, with the measures adopted last Monday by the Community club, there are already more than fifty decisions relating to “what they call sanctions”, “as if they had any moral authority, which they do not have, nor legal authority, to impose any punishment on citizens of another country”.
The National Assembly, controlled by Chavism since the elections of last December, which the EU does not recognize, had requested on Tuesday the expulsion of the head of the diplomatic delegation.
Brussels responded, through its Foreign Affairs spokeswoman, Nabila Massrali, who, in statements to Europa Press, said: “The EU deeply regrets a decision that will only lead to further international isolation of Venezuela. We call for the decision to be reversed”.
With respect to the response that the EU will give if the expulsion of the ambassador materializes, Massrali pointed out that EU diplomacy “is evaluating the appropriate measures” if Caracas does not finally reverse its decision.
In similar terms a spokesman for the Spanish Foreign Ministry told The Diplomat. “Spain deeply regrets the decision to expel the Head of the EU Delegation in Caracas. This decision will only lead to further international isolation of Venezuela and we call for this decision to be reversed.”
“Venezuela,” he added, “will only be able to overcome the current crisis through negotiation and dialogue, to which Spain and the rest of its EU partners are fully committed but which are directly undermined by this decision.
In June last year, Maduro had already ordered the expulsion of the ambassador, who was also given 72 hours to leave the country as a reaction to the sanctions imposed by the EU on eleven high-ranking Chavist officials. However, hours before the deadline expired, the Venezuelan president retracted and reversed the expulsion.
