Nicolas Maduro, in a press conference in Caracas, Monday, September 1, 2025. Credit: ARIANA CUBILLOS / AP / Profimedia
The Venezuela's government announced on Monday that it will close its embassies in Norway and Australia and open new ones in Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe, as part of a restructuring of the diplomatic service, against the background of increasing tensions with the United States, notes Reuters.
In a statement, the administration of President Nicolas Maduro said that these closures are part of a “strategic resources reallocation” and that the consular services for Venezuelans in Norway and Australia will be taken over by other diplomatic missions, the details to be communicated in the coming days.
Caracas said that he opens the new embassies in “two-native nations, strategic allies in the anti-economic struggle and resistance against hegemonic pressures.”
Authorities have added that these new diplomatic representations will be used to launch common projects in the field of agriculture, energy, education, mining and other sectors of common interest.
The announcement comes just a few days after the Nobel Committee in Oslo announced that the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Maria Corina Machado, won the Nobel Peace Award for the fight against the dictatorship in the South American country.
Closing the embassies in the two US allied countries also occurs after weeks of stronger tensions between Caracas and Washington.
Venezuela asked for the support of the United Nations after several fatal American military blows on ships off his Caribbean coast, which Washington claims to carry drugs. Some US allied states in the UN Security Council have requested relaxation and dialogue.
Venezuela states that it is in a situation where it is rational to expect an armed attack on the country in the short term, and Maduro claims that the US is pursuing a change of government.
Washington did not respond directly to this accusation, but called the Venezuelan socialist leader an illegitimate boss of a “narco-state”. The United States has also announced a new force to combat drug trafficking within the Southern Command, the military structure that deals with Latin America.
The governments of Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso are closer to Moscow, who has supported Venezuela in the UN and accused the United States of acting after the “Cowboy principle: he pulls the first.”
