Venezuela withdraws diplomatic credential from Costa Rican diplomat

Venezuela withdrew the diplomatic credential from the Costa Rican chargé d’affaires on Tuesday in retaliation for the country’s acceptance of Juan Guaidó’s diplomat as Venezuelan ambassador in San José.

“The Bolivarian Government of Venezuela has decided to withdraw the diplomatic credential to Mr. Danilo González Ramírez, who was in charge of business affairs for the Republic of Costa Rica in Venezuela,” the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry announced in a statement.

The ministry also warned that it reserves the possibility of applying other reciprocal measures “to compensate this unacceptable aggression against the personnel and premises of the diplomatic mission.”

The three officials who made up the diplomatic mission of the government of Nicolás Maduro recently left the Venezuelan embassy in Costa Rica, which recognizes Guaidó as interim president along with some 50 more countries.

On Feb. 15, Costa Rica had given the Maduro-appointed diplomats 60 days to leave the embassy, which was occupied on Tuesday by Maria Faría, designated by Guaidó and accredited in San José.

In February, Faría tried to enter by force the Venezuelan embassy accompanied by dozens of Venezuelans. The incident generated an immediate response from the Costa Rican government, which asked her to withdraw from the headquarters.

“The usurpation ceased at #CostaRica and will soon cease in Venezuela,” Guaidó wrote on Twitter, which together with the United States is pressing for the international community to ignore Maduro’s second term, on the grounds that it is the result of fraudulent elections.

Avanzamos en la recuperación de los bienes y espacios que le pertenecen a los venezolanos.

Ya estamos ocupando formalmente la sede de nuestra representación diplomática en #CostaRica.

Cesó la usurpación en #CostaRica y pronto cesará en Venezuela. https://t.co/DpJmPdIBnC

— Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) April 17, 2019

Costa Rica sets “a disastrous precedent of disrespect and ignorance of international law,” said the government of Maduro, which blamed the Central American country “for the loss or violation of assets, files and documents of the embassy.”

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