Foreign Minister Yván Gil and Mayor Carmen Meléndez will travel to Rome on behalf of the Maduro Administration
Nicolás Maduro reported on Tuesday, April 22, that a delegation headed by Foreign Minister Yván Gil and the mayor of Caracas, Carmen Meléndez, will attend the funeral of Pope Francis on behalf of Venezuela.
Maduro explained that Gil is a “great Christian man” and the mayor played such an important role in the canonization of Blessed José Gregorio Hernández, approved by Pope Francis last February.
Due to the relevance of the acts to say goodbye to Pope Francis, heads of state and government, political leaders and royalty members have already confirmed that they will attend on Saturday, April 26 at their funeral in San Pedro Square.
Among those confirmed so far are: the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and his wife; the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, together with his sister Karina (General Secretary of the Presidency), and several ministers, including Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein; the president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and the first lady Janja; and the president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa.
From Europe, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will be present; a delegation from Portugal headed by its president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa; from the United Kingdom will be Prince Guillermo (on behalf of his father King Carlos III) and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
There will also be the presidents of Ireland, Micheal D. Higgins; France, Emmanuel Macron; Germany, Frank Walter Steinmeier; Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski; Poland, Andrzej Doubt, among other dignitaries in Europe who will travel with their committees.
The president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Council Antonio Costa, and the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, will go to Rome.
Among the members of royalty, Prince Alberto II and his wife Charlène (Monaco) will also attend; King Felipe and Queen Matilde (Belgium).
Maduro did not go to Celac
Nicolás Maduro declined his participation to the Celac Summit held at the beginning of April in Honduras. He explained that the decision was due to security issues. “Better days will arrive to leave with the town again,” he said.
In this event his participation was by videoconference and the representation of Venezuela was headed by Foreign Minister Yván Gil.
After the July 28 elections, in which the official assumed a third mandate under complaints of fraud by the opposition and questioning of the international community, Maduro traveled to Russia for the BRICS summit that was made in the month of October.
In mid -March of this year, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez reported that “soon” Maduro will travel to Russia again for the signing of a strategic association treaty.
Rodríguez’s announcement was confirmed by Russian Foreign MinisterSergei Lavrov, who pointed out that the visit is scheduled for May 9 in the framework of the commemorative events of Victory Day.
With information from the EFE agency
*Also read: Maduro Administration qualifies as “morally inadmissible” Nayib Bukele proposal
*Journalism in Venezuela is exercised in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments arranged for the punishment of the word, especially the laws “against hatred”, “against fascism” and “against blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
