Brazil Declares Venezuelan Charge D’Affaires Persona Non Grata

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Brazil decided to declare Venezuelan charges d'affaires in the country Gerardo Antonio Delgado Maldonado a persona non grata, local media reported.

The step was made in response to Venezuela's decision to declare Brazilian ambassador and Canadian charges d'affairs personas non grata, the O Globo media outlet reported on late Tuesday.

According to Caracas, Brazilian constitutional order was violated by impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff in 2016, which was called a coup by Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Venezuelan National Constituent Assembly President Delcy Rodriguez also accused Canadian diplomat Craig Kowalik of "permanent and insistent, rude and vulgar" interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela.

Brazil and Argentina have been criticizing Venezuelan authorities for a long time. Recently, Brazilian Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes said that Brazil will propose suspending Venezuela from the sub-regional Mercosur trade bloc, which comprises Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. Later that day, the bloc announced that it made a decision to suspend the membership of Venezuela in the organization.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro asked the Pope Francis to protect him from "aggression" from other Latin American countries — Argentina and Brazil. The President appealed to pontiff to help prevent a US invasion of Venezuela.