Canada suspended operations at its embassy in Venezuela on Sunday, saying President Nicolas Maduro's regime is increasingly clamping down on diplomats who oppose his rule.
The diplomats' visas are set to expire at the end of June, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement, and Maduro's regime — which Canada has denounced as illegitimate and characterized as a dictatorship — has made it so they cannot be renewed.
"As Venezuela slides deeper into dictatorship, and as Venezuelans continue to suffer at the hands of the illegitimate Maduro regime, the regime has taken steps to limit the ability of foreign embassies to function in Venezuela, particularly those advocating for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela," she said.
Freeland said the operations are being suspended temporarily, effective immediately.
"We are also evaluating the status of Venezuelan diplomats appointed by the Maduro regime to Canada," she said in the statement.
News that embassy operations were being put on hold came a day before Freeland was set to meet in New York with other members of the Lima Group — a bloc that includes more than a dozen Latin American countries opposing Maduro.
Canada is among as many as 50 countries that have said Maduro stole last year's election and is no longer the legitimate leader of Venezuela.
Instead, the Lima Group backed opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself Venezuela's interim leader at the beginning of this year.
Freeland said that through its work with the Lima Group, the government will continue to advocate for democracy in the South American nation.
Canada has imposed sanctions on more than 100 officials in Maduro's regime in a bid to hold them accountable.
The country's political and economic crisis has forced three million people to flee their homes in search of food, health care and other basic services since 2015.
Global Affairs said Canadians in Venezuela who need consular assistance can reach out to the Embassy of Canada to Colombia, in Bogota, and noted that Ottawa has advised against travelling to Venezuela for the past several months.
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Please note that the UN and
Please note that the UN and the Vatican for two rather conservative sources are not getting their point of view reported in the corporate press : that this "coup d'etat" in V. is against all rule of international law.
Please research the situation in Venezuela on your own through reporting at The Intercept, the Real News Network ,Code Pink and use your common sense to think outside the box that corporate news has created on Venezuela.
If China and Russia weren't invested there and ready to push back and if Venezuela didn't have a functional air force and lots of armed and trained citizens the US would have invaded already (they only invade when they hold all the cards--no fair fights for the yanks ever)
Substitute another country like France, Canada, Italy, Australia for Venezuela and run the scenario: oil reserves nationalized out of the hands of AM Corps, social justice policies for poor not just rich people followed by massive sanctions by US, banks cutting off access to funds for traded goods, medical supplies, food , stir for two years and then have a no name senator declare himself the president one day.
Does supporting him sound like a sane thing to do in any country except one where the US wants what it has?? As a Jamaican commentator said acidly, they feel quite safe because they have no oil or gold.
Always ask: "Who benefits from this scenario ? who would get power and money from this scenario?"--The US and the extreme right wing LIMA group and our mouthpiece for their shite, our own foreign minister (trained in elite american right wing think tanks) are out to hobble any country that takes the smallest step away from predatory capitalism---THAT's the Amerikan way!!!!!!
The Canadian government
The Canadian government support for a self-declared president in Venezuela is hypocritical. I agree with Valerie Loseli, we are drowned in a propaganda flood of corporate 'news' when it comes to V. that is really meant to justify yet another regime change action of Amerika.
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