CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s government said Saturday that Brazil can no longer represent Argentina’s diplomatic interests in the country, putting several anti-government opponents holed up for months in the Argentine ambassador’s residence seeking asylum at risk.
Venezuela's foreign ministry said in a statement that it had notified Brazil of its decision, which will take effect immediately. It said it was forced to take action based on what it called evidence — which it hasn't shared — that those who sought refuge in Argentina's diplomatic mission were conspiring to carry out “terrorist” acts, including the assassination of President Nicolas Maduro and his vice president.
Saturday's move is the latest burst of friction between the countries. Argentina’s president has been among those leading the charge against Maduro over alleged attempts to steal July’s presidential election. Electoral authorities pronounced Maduro the winner despite strong evidence collected at the ballot boxes by the opposition that it prevailed by a more than 2-to-1 margin. Since the election, thousands have been arrested in a brutal crackdown.
Magalli Meda, the former campaign chief of opposition leader María Corina Machado, was among a half-dozen government opponents who fled to the Argentina ambassador’s residence after Maduro’s chief prosecutor issued an order for her arrest in March for allegedly propagating destabilizing political violence.
In retaliation, Maduro broke off diplomatic relations with Argentine President Javier Milei’s right-wing government, which tapped neighbor Brazil to represent its interests and safeguard the asylum seekers.
Brazil's foreign ministry, in a statement, said it was “surprised” by Venezuela's decision. Under the Vienna Convention governing diplomatic relations, Argentina must now name a substitute custodian acceptable to Venezuela's government, the foreign ministry said. Meanwhile, Brazil will remain responsible for the diplomatic mission, whose physical integrity cannot be violated, the statement said.
Since Friday, armored vehicles from the SEBIN political police have been parked outside the Argentina ambassador’s residence in a leafy Caracas neighborhood. Electricity to the diplomatic mission was also cut, according to Meda, who has taken to social media to denounce what she fears is an impending raid to arrest her and the other government opponents.
On Saturday, Milei’s government blasted Venezuela’s “unilateral action.” It also expressed gratitude for Brazil’s continued representation of its interests, indicating it wasn’t in any rush to find a replacement.
In a statement, the foreign ministry said any attempt to raid its ambassadorial residence and “kidnap” its asylum seekers would be condemned by the international community.
“Actions like these reinforce the conviction that in Maduro’s Venezuela the fundamental rights of human beings are not respected,” the foreign ministry said.
Brazil has also refused to recognize Maduro as the victor in the presidential election, demanding instead that authorities release a breakdown of results, as is customary in Venezuelan elections.
But unlike Milei, a strident conservative ideologue, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has gingerly tried to avoid antagonizing Maduro to give space for a regional reconciliation effort led by him and fellow leftist leaders from Colombia and Mexico.
That diplomatic effort has so far yielded few results, prompting observers to question its utility. Meanwhile, police have arrested more than 2,400 people in a brutal crackdown on protests and dissent.
This past week, Human Rights Watch issued a report connecting security forces and pro-government armed groups to the killing of several of the 23 protesters. The report was based on forensic analysis of videos shared on social media as well as interviews with witnesses.
Associated Press writer Joshua Goodman contributed to this report from Miami.
Police guard Argentina's embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Tito Jackson, one of the brothers who made up the beloved pop group the Jackson 5, has died. He was 70.
Jackson was the third of nine children, including global superstars Michael and Janet, and was part of a music-making family whose songs have sold hundreds of millions of copies.
“It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that our beloved father, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Tito Jackson is no longer with us. We are shocked, saddened and heartbroken. Our father was an incredible man who cared about everyone and their well-being,” his sons TJ, Taj and Taryll Jackson said in a statement posted on Instagram late Sunday.
The Jackson 5, among the last of the major groups launched through Berry Gordy's Motown empire, included teenage and pre-teen brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and lead singer Michael. Gordy signed them up in the late 1960s, when Motown's power was slipping and tastes were shifting from the slick pop-soul of Motown's prime to the funkier sounds of Sly and the Family Stone.
“I Want You Back,” the group's breakthrough hit, was openly modeled on Sly and the Family Stone and topped the charts in 1969. The Jacksons followed with three more No. 1 songs, "ABC," “The Love You Save" and “I’ll Be There," and also hit the top 5 with “Mama's Pearl” and “Never Can Say Goodbye."
Some called their music “bubblegum soul.”
By mid-decade, the Jackson 5's appeal was fading and the group, except Jermaine, moved to Epic and renamed themselves the Jacksons. Their latter hits included “Enjoy Yourself,” “Lovely One” and “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)." Michael Jackson became a multi-platinum solo artist in the 1980s and his collaborations with his brothers became rare after the 1984 album “Victory."
The Jackson 5 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, introduced at the ceremony by longtime friend Diana Ross.
Among reactions to the death was a message from the Broadway production “MJ," about Michael Jackson and his family. On X, the show called Tito Jackson “an icon of the music industry who has inspired generations of singers, musicians and performers across the world. None more so than our MJ family.” It included a photo of Tito Jackson attending the show.
Raised in Gary, Indiana, the Jackson 5 had been formed under the guidance of their father, Joe Jackson, a steelworker and guitar player. Michael and sibling La Toya would accuse him of abusive behavior. Toriano Adaryll “Tito” Jackson was the least-heard member of the group, working as a background singer who played guitar.
Michael Jackson died at age 50 on June 25, 2009. Speaking to The Associated Press in December 2009, Tito Jackson said that his younger brother's death pulled the family closer together.
“I would say definitely it brought us a step closer to each other. To recognize that the love we have for each other when one of us is not here, what a great loss,” he said, adding he would personally never “be at peace with it.”
“There’s still moments when I just can’t believe it. So I think that’s never going to go away,” he said.
In 2014, Jackson said that he and his brothers still felt Michael Jackson's absence in their shows, which continued with international tours.
“I don’t think we will ever get used to performing without him. He’s dearly missed," Jackson said, noting that his brother's spirit "is with us when we are performing. It gives us a lot of positive energy and puts a lot of smiles on our faces."
Days before his death, Jackson posted a message on his Facebook page from Germany on Sept. 11, where he visited a memorial to Michael Jackson with his brothers.
“Before our show in Munich, my brothers Jackie, Marlon, and I, visited the beautiful memorial dedicated to our beloved brother, Michael Jackson. We’re deeply grateful for this special place that honors not only his memory but also our shared legacy. Thank you for keeping his spirit alive," Jackson wrote.
Jackson was the last of the nine siblings to release a solo project with his 2016 debut, “Tito Time.” He released a song in 2017, “One Way Street,” and told the AP in 2019 that he was working on a sophomore album.
Jackson said he purposely held back from pursuing a solo career because he wanted to focus on raising his three sons, who formed their own music group, 3T. Jackson's website offers a link to a single featuring 3T and Stevie Wonder titled, “Love One Another.”
Earlier this year, Jackson settled in a house in Claremore, Oklahoma near Tulsa, Tulsa World reported. “I always wanted to get away from the West Coast and experience living somewhere with new people and new culture,” the paper quoted Jackson as saying. “California is ... different.”
Jackson had ties to the area: His uncle, Samuel Jackson, had opened Jackson Undertaking Co. in Tulsa in 1917, and when it burned down during the Tulsa Race Massacr e in 1921, Samuel Jackson was hired by a white-owned funeral home to embalm the bodies of Black residents who were killed, the paper reported. He later rebuilt his own company.
Jackson also is survived by his brothers Jermaine, Randy, Marlon and Jackie, his sisters Janet, Rebbie and La Toya, and their mother, Katherine. Their father died in 2018.
Jackson's death was first reported by Entertainment Tonight.
FILE - Pop star Michael Jackson, center, his mother Katherine Jackson, right, and brother Tito Jackson, left, leave Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria, Calif., April 7, 2005, after another day of testimony in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
FILE - From left, brothers Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson and Marlon Jackson pose for a portrait together in Beverly Hills, Calif., Dec. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FILE - Singer Tito Jackson arrives at the opening night of, "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour," in Los Angeles, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg, File)
FILE - The Jackson 5, Michael Jackson, front right; Marlon Jackson, front left; Tito Jackson, back left; Jackie Jackson, back center; and Jermaine Jackson, back right; pose for this undated photo together in Los Angeles. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Tito Jackson, a member of the famed Jackson 5, poses for a portrait in Los Angeles, July 24, 2019, to promote his solo project, a new version of his 2017 song "One Way Street." (Photo by Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP, File)
