Paraguay expels ambassador of Venezuela

On July 4, Paraguay declared the ambassador of Venezuela, José Javier Arrúe de Pablo, persona non grata and expelled him (as Pablo was not in Paraguay the practical effect of the decision is that he will not be allowed to return). In an explanatory note, the Paraguayan Ministry of Foreign Relations said that “… there were grave indications of intervention by the Bolivariana Republic of Venezuela in domestic affairs of the Republic of Paraguay.”

Asuncion strongly believes that Venezuelan officials, led by the country’s Foreign Minister, Nicolás Maduro, had conversations with Paraguayan military personnel with the objective of halting the impeachment of Fernando Lugo as it was taking place between June 21 and 22. The Paraguayan minister of Defense, Maria Liz Garcia, went so far as to say that Maduro called on Paraguayan military personnel to rebel against the decision by the Paraguayan Congress to impeach Lugo.

At the same time it expelled the Venezuelan ambassador, Paraguay recalled its ambassador in Caracas, Augusto Ocampos Caballero.