The national government denounced this Monday the vandalization and permanent burning of the Venezuelan consular headquarters in Bogotá, the last event that occurred today, April 18, 2022.
News agencies reported that in the early hours of this Monday there was a serious fire in the Venezuelan consulate.
“At approximately 2:00 am, the inhabitants of the area contacted the 123 emergency line, seeing that the fire reached up to three meters high. Two machines from the official fire department of Cedritos arrived to control the flames,” agencies reported.
According to a statement issued by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, “the lack of shelter and protection of this Consular Headquarters violates the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.”
In this sense, Venezuela demands from the Colombian government, through an official statement, the due respect and protection of the Venezuelan diplomatic and consular offices in the neighboring country.
Below is the full text of the statement issued by the Foreign Ministry of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela:
“The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela denounces before the International Community the fact of permanent vandalization and fire of the Consular Headquarters of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Bogotá, the latter occurred in the early hours of today, Monday, April 18, 2022. The lack of shelter and protection of this Consular Headquarters violates the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations in its articles 22 and 45 of which both States are parties.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, attached to the principles of the Vienna Convention, once again reiterates that: «The premises of the mission are inviolable. The receiving State has a special obligation to take all appropriate measures to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent the peace of the mission from being disturbed or its dignity from being violated, even in the event of a breakdown in relations between the two States, or if a mission is terminated permanently or temporarily.
In this regard, we categorically reject that the headquarters of the Consulate General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, located on Autopista Norte with 105 in the city of Santa Fe de Bogotá, Republic of Colombia, since 2019, has been the object of illegal acts of permanently, the receiving State incurring by action or omission in a flagrant and repeated violation of the essential norms on which diplomatic and consular relations are based.
The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela demands from the Colombian Government the due respect and protection of the Venezuelan diplomatic and consular offices in Colombia, where it does not operate, as some media outlets have simulated its abandonment, since its protection is a international responsibility of the receiving State.
Caracas, April 18, 2022″.
