Venezuelan diplomat in Costa Rica accuses Guaidó-appointed ambassador of usurping embassy

The diplomatic representation of Venezuela in Costa Rica accused in court the ambassador appointed by Juan Guaidó of usurpation after she occupied the country’s embassy.

Attorney Celso Gamboa told ameliarueda.com that he filed the complaint against the diplomat María Faría, who was designated as Venezuelan ambassador to Costa Rica by Guaidó.

Guaidó is recognized as Venezuela’s acting president by more than 50 countries, including Costa Rica.

The complaint is based on the fact that on Feb. 20, Faría and a group of Venezuelans forcibly entered the embassy’s headquarters in the Costa Rican capital. The events occurred five days after the local chancellery had allowed a period of two months for representatives appointed by Nicolás Maduro to leave the property.

The representative of Guaidó evacuated staff appointed by Maduro, citing a need to audit the premises. That generated a strong response from the Costa Rican government, which asked her to withdraw from the headquarters.

“The violent and clandestine dispossession is classified in the Costa Rican legislation as the crime of usurpation and, added to that, these people also managed to obtain the ownership of the bank accounts of the Venezuelan embassy in Costa Rica,” Gamboa told the site.

Gamboa announced that he has asked to suspend banking secrecy for those accounts.

The deadline granted by Costa Rica for Maduro-appointed representatives to vacate the diplomatic headquarters in San José is April 15.

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