Argentina’s government said Tuesday it did not recognize lawmaker Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s president and revoked the credentials of his representative in Buenos Aires.
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The new administration of Argentina’s progressive President Alberto Fernandez sent a letter to Elisa Trotta Gamus, who represented Guaido in Argentina, to notify her that her “special mission” in Argentina had been terminated.
"I am writing to you for the purpose of informing you that as of the day of the date [of this letter] your special mission in the Argentine Republic and its functions within the framework is terminated," the note reads.
Trotta had been recognized by former President Mauricio Macri as Venezuela's diplomatic representative in Argentina since Jan. 29.
“She was under the special mission format that the previous administration had given her, not as a formal ambassador of Venezuela. We do not recognize Guaido as president, but as a leader of the opposition, and based on that, we consider that there is no special representation mission,” a spokesman for the Argentinian Foreign Affairs Ministry said.
This comes as another hard blow to disgraced Guaido, who illegally self-proclaimed president on Jan. 23, 2019. Since then the United States-backed lawmaker has been involved in various plots to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro, as well as corruption scandals and even proven ties with narco-paramilitary organizations.
On Sunday, Guaido was set aside by opposition factions of the National Assembly as 81 lawmakers voted for opposition politician Luis Parra to become the new president of the legislative body in a session with enough a quorum of 150 lawmakers. After the loss, Guaido then self-proclaimed president of the National Assembly.