Caracas (EFE).— The Venezuelan government announced on Monday the closure of its embassies in Norway and Australia and the opening of new diplomatic missions in Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso, describing the move as part of a “strategic reallocation of resources” aimed at strengthening alliances with the Global South.
In an official statement, President Nicolás Maduro’s administration said that consular services for Venezuelans in Norway and Australia will now be managed through “concurrent diplomatic missions,” with details to be announced soon.
“Venezuela reaffirms that these actions reflect its unwavering will to defend national sovereignty and actively contribute to building a new world order based on justice, solidarity, and inclusion,” the statement read.
The government said the upcoming embassies in Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso will serve as “key platforms to boost cooperation projects in agriculture, energy, education, mining, and other areas of mutual interest.”
It framed the initiative as part of the country’s “first phase of a comprehensive restructuring of its foreign service, aligned with the strategic guidelines of the ‘Plan de la Patria de las 7 Transformaciones (7T).’”
Move comes after Nobel Prize for opposition leader
The announcement comes just three days after the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado for her “tireless efforts to promote democratic rights for the Venezuelan people and her struggle for a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
Norway has long served as a mediator in talks between the Maduro government and the opposition, including the Barbados Agreement of 2023, which was intended to guarantee fair presidential elections.
The opposition later declared the pact “void” after alleging electoral fraud in the 2024 presidential elections, whose detailed results were never published.
Diplomatic fallout and regional tensions
Following the 2024 elections, Venezuela severed diplomatic ties with several Latin American countries: Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay, after they rejected Maduro’s reelection.
In Aug. 2025, Norway publicly denounced a rise in enforced disappearances in Venezuela, accusing the government of using them to silence political opponents.
Oslo expressed “serious concern” over disappearances related to the Jul. 2024 elections, including “short-term detentions” of opposition members. EFE
rbc/seo
