From Leopoldo López to Assange, when embassies become a political battlefield

Spain is unexpectedly at the heart of the political crisis of the

Venezuela

. The embbadies of Argentina, Chile and Brazil also received Venezuelan leaders persecuted by Chavez.

The Spanish Embbady in Caracas offers a refuge to

Leopoldo Lopez

After years of house arrest, he joined Juan Guaidó last week to demand an uprising against President Nicolás Maduro.

Lopez said that he had been released from house arrest by seemingly sympathetic military in Guaidó. Lopez stayed that day near Guaidó with the intention of encouraging people to go down the street. But López himself could not stay among the people and sought refuge, first at the Chilean Embbady, ​​then at the Spanish Embbady in Caracas.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Venezuela issued an arrest warrant against Lopez. Spain said it would not deliver Lopez, but one day later, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said his government would "limit" Lopez's political activities and " would not allow his embbady to become a center of political activism "

Spain is not the first country to get lost in a political situation by offering a refuge to a prominent personality. Other countries are or have recently found themselves in a similar situation:

Freddy Guevara, Chilean Embbady in Caracas (ongoing)

Lopez, his wife and daughter traveled to the Chilean embbady in Caracas for the first time last Tuesday, but this diplomatic mission already had a guest, Freddy Guevara, who described last month the residence of Ambbadador of Chile, where he hides. the end of 2017, like "my gold cage". Guevara, another Venezuelan opposition leader, has a bedroom, a chef, a pool and a garden.

Berhanu Bayeh and Addis Tedla at the Embbady of Italy in Ethiopia (ongoing)

Nearly three decades ago, the Soviet-backed Derg regime in Ethiopia was expelled and four high-ranking ministers accused of mbad murder fled to the Italian embbady. In 2004, in response to a request from the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italy announced that it would not deliver men. He reiterated this position in front of Vice News in 2015, when he confirmed that two of the four men, the former chief of staff of Addis Tedla and the former minister Berhanu Bayeh, were still living there. According to the information received, these are "troubles" for Italian diplomats.

Julian Assange at the Embbady of Ecuador in Great Britain (2012-2019)

The founder of WikiLeaks,

Julian Assange

He spent nearly seven years at the Embbady of Ecuador in London.

Earlier this year, after officials complained of its poor attitude and lack of hygiene, Ecuador decided to withdraw political asylum to Assange, who is currently in a state of emergency. London prison where he will face.
extradition proceedings and proceedings in Sweden and the United States.

Roger Pinto at the Brazilian Embbady in Bolivia (2012-2013)

Senator Roger Pinto, who was part of the small right-wing opposition in Bolivia, said in 2012 that he and his family had received death threats after accusing the government of Evo Morales of corruption and sought refuge at the embbady. Brazil. He remained there for more than 450 days because, although he obtained asylum in Brazil, Bolivia did not recognize him and did not let him go. In 2013, despite his health problems, a diplomat named Eduardo Saboia decided to take matters into his own hands and helped exile Pinto in Brazil on a 20-hour trip by diplomatic car. Pinto died in Brazil in 2017.

* The Washington Post