Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa (born 1964) is a Portuguese diplomat who served as the European Union Ambassador to Venezuela. She became the ambassador in February 2018 and she was asked to [1] leave in the following year.
Brilhante Pedrosa had served as Portugal's Consul General in Caracas [2] as well as Portugal's ambassador to Namibia (she presented her credentials on July 20, 2016) [3] and Libya. [4]
In February 2018, she became the European Union Ambassador to Venezuela. [1] On June 29, 2020, Nicolás Maduro expelled Brilhante Pedrosa, giving her 72 hours to leave the country, [5] but the decision was later reversed. [6] On 24 February 2021, the ruling party controlled National Assembly in Venezuela called on the government to expel her, following new sanctions by the bloc against 19 Venezuelan officials. [7] Maduro's government declared her persona non grata afterwards, and once more gave her 72 hours to leave the country. [8] Brilhante Pedrosa left after a week. [9]
In retaliation the EU decided in 2021 to declare Venezuela's ambassador to the EU as also persona no grata. However the rekevant diplomat Claudia Salerno Caldera was also the ambassador to other countries, and this confused the case of expelling her. [10]
Miguel Ángel Burelli Rivas, was a Venezuelan lawyer, diplomat and politician, presidential candidate in 1968 and 1973. He was Director General of the Ministry of Interior Affairs; and also Minister of Justice and Minister of Foreign Affairs, between 1994 and 1999. He was a candidate to be Secretary of the Organization of American States (OEA) in 1994.
In diplomacy, a persona non grata (PNG) is a foreign diplomat who is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplomatic mission. A host country may declare persona non grata status for any member of a diplomatic staff at any time without any explanation.
The Bolivarian National Intelligence Service is the premier intelligence agency in Venezuela. SEBIN is an internal security force subordinate to the Vice President of Venezuela since 2012 and is dependent on Vice President Delcy Rodríguez. SEBIN has been described as the political police force of the Bolivarian government.
United States–Venezuela relations have traditionally been characterized by an important trade and investment relationship as well as cooperation in combating the production and transit of illegal drugs.
The nations of Mexico and Venezuela established diplomatic relations in 1831, however, diplomatic relations between both nations have been historically unstable on several occasions. During the Venezuelan presidential crisis, Mexico took a neutral position and has continued to maintain diplomatic relations with the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
Venezuela has an embassy in Montevideo. Uruguay has an embassy in Caracas and a consulate in Maracaibo.
Spain–Venezuelan relations are the bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Spain and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Both nations are members of the Association of Spanish Language Academies and the Organization of Ibero-American States.
Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, nicknamed El Pollo, is a Venezuelan diplomat and retired general. He was the head of the military intelligence in Venezuela during Hugo Chávez's government, from July 2004 to December 2011. Carvajal was arrested in Spain on 12 April 2019 based on an arrest warrant from the United States for 2011 drug trafficking charges; the U.S. asked Spain to extradite Carvajal. After the Spanish courts approved his extradition to the United States Carvajal went into hiding. On 26 March 2020, the U.S. Department of State offered $10 million for information to bring him to justice in relation to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism. On 9 September 2021 he was arrested by Spanish police in an apartment in Madrid. On 19 July 2023, Carjaval was extradited to the United States.
The Embassy of the United States in Caracas is a United States embassy that represents the United States in Caracas, Venezuela.
A referendum was held in Venezuela on 16 July 2017. The referendum was called by the National Assembly in response to the constitutional crisis and President Nicolás Maduro's plans for a Constituent Assembly. The referendum was an act of civil disobedience in the context of the application of Articles 333 and 350 of the Venezuelan constitution, with the articles calling for Venezuelans to "disown any regime ... that violates democratic values", especially since the National Electoral Council and the Supreme Tribunal of Justice were not recognized in the referendum. The opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) announced that there would be 2,030 areas for the popular consultation nationwide to serve more than 19 million voters.
Todd D. Robinson is an American diplomat who has served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs since September 2021. He previously served as the charge d'affaires of the U.S. embassy in Venezuela from December 2017 until being expelled in May 2018, and the U.S. ambassador to Guatemala from 2014 to 2017.
María Gabriela Chávez Colmenares is currently an Alternate Ambassador of Venezuela to the United Nations. She is the daughter of former President Hugo Chávez, and acted as his First Lady after his separation from Marisabel Rodríguez in 2003.
The Venezuelan presidential crisis was a political crisis concerning the leadership and the legitimate president of Venezuela between 2019 and 2023, with the nation and the world divided in support for Nicolás Maduro or Juan Guaidó.
The 2019 Venezuelan protests began in the first days of January as a result of the Venezuelan presidential crisis. Protests against the legitimacy of the Nicolás Maduro's presidency began at the time of his second inauguration following a controversial presidential election in 2018. Rallies of support were also held for President of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, with some Venezuelans and foreign government's recognizing him as the acting President of Venezuela.
During the Venezuelan presidential crisis concerning the legitimate President of Venezuela, reactions and responses to the crisis were greatly divided.
North Korea–Venezuela relations are relations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Venezuela is one of the four countries in Latin America that has an embassy of North Korea along with Brazil, Cuba and Mexico. However, Venezuela is one of the only countries in the world that has a good relationship with both North and South Korea.
The 2019–2020 Mexico–Bolivia diplomatic crisis began on 29 October 2019 when the Mexican government congratulated incumbent Bolivian President Evo Morales for his reelection victory. After the election, a preliminary report by the Organization of American States on 9 November reported numerous irregularities in the election, and amid protests and pressure from the Bolivian armed forces and police, Morales was forced to resign.
The following lists events in the year 2021 in Venezuela.
Germany–Venezuela relations have a long tradition and were officially established in 1871. During Nicolás Maduro's tenure, relations have deteriorated and in 2019 Venezuela declared the German Ambassador Daniel Kriener a persona non grata; however, he was able to return to the country soon after. Close relations with Venezuela continue to be maintained by parts of the German left and the political party Die Linke.
Haifa El Aissami Maddah is a Venezuelan lawyer. In the 1980s, she was involved in investigating extrajudicial killings in Venezuela. In 2010, controversially, she became her country's ambassador to the Netherlands, and in 2016 she was appointed as the ambassador to the International Criminal Court.