The regime of dictator Nicolás Maduro announced this Monday (13) the closure of Venezuela’s embassies in Norway and Australia and the opening of new diplomatic headquarters in Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso.
The decision comes three days after the Norwegian Nobel Committee, based in Oslo, awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to opposition leader María Corina Machado, in recognition of her “tireless struggle in promoting the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and for her fight for a fair and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”.
In an official statement, the Chavista regime stated that the measure is part of a “strategic reallocation of resources” and aims to “strengthen alliances with the global south”. Caracas added that bilateral relations and consular assistance to Venezuelans in Norway and Australia will now be carried out by “competing diplomatic missions”, the details of which will be announced later.
“The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ratifies that these actions reflect its unbreakable will to defend national sovereignty and actively contribute to the construction of a new world order, based on justice, solidarity and inclusion”, says the text.
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regretted the decision and classified the closure of the Venezuelan embassy in Oslo as “without justification”.
“It’s regrettable,” said Cecilie Roang, spokeswoman for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, to the newspaper World Gang. “Although we have different opinions on various issues, Norway wishes to keep dialogue with Venezuela open and will work towards this,” he added.
According to the Norwegian agency NTBthere is no confirmation that the closure of the embassy is directly related to the award granted to María Corina Machado, but the temporal coincidence reinforced the perception of diplomatic retaliation on the part of the Chavista regime.
Norway has been a mediator in several dialogues between Chavismo and the opposition, including the 2023 Barbados Agreement, which provided electoral guarantees for the 2024 presidential elections. The pact, however, was broken after allegations of fraud and the “re-election” of Maduro without detailed disclosure of the results.
