France on Wednesday (13 May) summoned the Venezuelan ambassador to Paris to protest against the treatment inflicted on its diplomatic representation in Caracas, amid tensions with the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. For several days, there has indeed been neither water nor electricity in the residence of the French ambassador.
"France expresses its firm condemnation of the measures taken in recent days which undermine the normal functioning of our diplomatic representation in Caracas," said an assistant spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, arguing that these measures were "contrary to to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations ".
"The French authorities are waiting for these measures to be ended without delay in order to restore the normal functioning of our diplomatic representation."
#Venezuela 🇻🇪
France expresses its firm condemnation of the measures taken in recent days which undermine the normal functioning of our diplomatic representation in #Caracas.
Read the statement 👉 https://t.co/e5ea19EEjX pic.twitter.com/vtkKCxH0Dg
Water and electricity cut
According to diplomats, water and electricity have been cut since the beginning of the month at the residence of the French ambassador in Caracas, Romain Nadal, whom Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly accused of interfering in the internal affairs of Venezuela. It is therefore necessary to use a generator and the well in the residence cannot be operated due to the lack of diesel fuel to power the pump, the tankers no longer having access to the street to supply it.
Since May 2, filtering barrages of the Venezuelan intelligence service, Sebin, have also been erected at the entrance and exit of the street where the ambassador's residence is located.
France recognizes opponent Juan Gaido
Like more than 50 states, France recognizes the Venezuelan opponent Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of the country pending new elections. Paris believes that the May 2018 election that led to the re-election of Nicolas Maduro was held under "very controversial" conditions. The opponent was received in January at the Élysée Palace by Emmanuel Macron and French diplomats were present at the airport upon his return to Caracas in February.
The European Union supports the American plan for a transitional government in Venezuela without the socialist leader Nicolas Maduro and the leader of the opposition Juan Guaido.
Nicolas Maduro accuses his rival of having fomented an attempt of "invasion of Venezuela" which was to end, according to him, by a "coup", with the complicity of the United States and Colombia. President Donald Trump has denied any involvement.
A total of 45 people, including two former American soldiers, were arrested for their alleged involvement in this failed "invasion", which consisted of a landing of men in Macuto, less than an hour's drive from Caracas on the caribbean coast.
Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, enjoys the support of Cuba, China and Russia. But Washington tightens more and more the screw of the sanctions against Caracas and the American justice indicted the political heir of Hugo Chavez (1999-2013) for "narco-terrorism" in March.
With AFP and Reuters
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