Canada stops operations at embassy in Venezuela
ARIANA CUBILLOS/Associated Press
In this May 20, 2109 photo, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro flashes a hand-heart symbol to supporters outside Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela. Maduro said Thursday, May 23, 2019, that he is inviting China’s Huawei to help set up a 4G network in Venezuela, prompting opposition leader Juan Guaidó to accuse him of having an “absolute disconnection with reality.”
June 2, 2019
TORONTO — Canada is suspending operations at its embassy in Venezuela.
Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement Sunday that Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro’s regime “has taken steps to limit the ability of foreign embassies to function in Venezuela” and at end of the month “Canadian diplomats in Venezuela will no longer be in a position to obtain diplomatic accreditation” as their visas will expire. She says they have no choice but to temporarily suspend operations immediately.
Freeland said Canada will continue to speak out against the Maduro regime.
Canada has led the push to recognize opposition lawmaker Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s rightful leader and seeks ways to remove Maduro.
