Guatemala’s New President Severs Relations with Venezuela

HAVANA TIMES – Guatemala’s new President Alejandro Giammattei on Thursday announced the rupture of his country’s diplomatic relations with Venezuela, reported dpa news.

“We have given orders to the foreign minister that the only person who remains at the embassy in Venezuela return home, and we are definitively breaking off the relations with the Venezuelan government,” the national news agency AGN quoted the president as saying.

The crisis in Venezuela is “a subject that worries the entire continent,” Giammattei said after holding talks with the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro.

Giammattei, a conservative former prisons director, was sworn in on Tuesday after winning a second election round in August.

Embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro won a second term in a contested election in 2018. He has presided over a massive economic crisis that has driven millions of Venezuelans to flee abroad.

Most Latin American countries have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s legitimate leader. Venezuela no longer has diplomatic relations with several countries, including the United States, Colombia and Paraguay.

Guaido sent a delegation to Giammattei’s swearing-in ceremony. In October, Venezuela had barred Giammattei from visiting the country to invite Guaido to the event.