Venezuela to sever diplomatic ties with Peru

Caracas, July 31 (IANS) Venezuela has decided to sever diplomatic relations with Peru due to Peruvian Foreign Minister Javier Gonzalez-Olaechea’s statement on the presidential election results in the country, Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said on social media on Wednesday.”We are forced to make this decision after the reckless statements of the Peruvian Foreign Minister that ignore the will of the Venezuelan people and our Constitution,” Gli said on social media platform X.He added that the decision was made based on Article 45 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, Xinhua news agency reported.This came after Peru refused to recognise the presidential election results of Venezuela.Additionally, the Peruvian Foreign Minister said that he recognised Edmundo Gonzalez, the Venezuelan Opposition candidate, as the country’s President-elect.Several countries, including the United States and Japan, have also raised “serious concerns” about Maduro winning the presidential election once again, citing that “doubts have been raised both domestically and internationally” about the transparency of the entire election process.On Monday, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that Nicolas Maduro has won the presidential election for the third time and will govern the country from 2025 to 2031.Maduro was running against nine presidential candidates. Of all the candidates, Edmundo Gonzalez, a retired diplomat, was seen as a significant challenge to Maduro.–IANSint/sd/svn