On May 8, 2013during a formal dinner at the Casa Rosada Bicentennial Museum, the then president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner decorated the Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro with the Order of the Liberator General San Martínone of the highest distinctions that Argentina grants to foreign officials for their “high honor and recognition” to the Republic. At the event, the president personally placed the necklace on the Venezuelan leader and gave a speech about the Latin American brotherhood and the legacy of the liberators, in a gesture that symbolized the close link between her Kirchnerist government and Chavismo.
The video of that controversial event that took place 13 years ago was viralized on social networks by digital activists linked to libertarianism. “Do you know who was the foreign minister who served the longest during the Kirchnerist decade? Jorge Taiana, the current candidate for Peronist deputy in the Province of Buenos Aires. During his administration, these were Argentina’s allies. “To this day he refuses to condemn Chavismo. Is this supposedly renewed Peronism?” wrote the user tea.party.argentina on his Instagram account, sharing the recording and wrongly mentioning the then Buenos Aires legislator Taiana as chancellor.
The decoration occurred a few months after Maduro assumed the presidency in Caracas following the death of Hugo Chavez and in a context of strong Argentine political support for the Venezuelan government. Key figures in Cristina Kirchner’s cabinet, such as the minister Héctor Timerman and Juan Manuel Abal Medinaendorsed and accompanied the bilateral relations that allowed this recognition. The then Chief of Staff and the senior staff of the Foreign Ministry not only managed the visit, but repeatedly pointed out the importance of consolidating political and commercial alliances with Venezuela in regional forums.
The granting of the Order of San Martín to Maduro was received with criticism from sectors of the Argentine opposition and human rights organizations, which questioned the honor of a government already then accused of violations of fundamental freedoms and institutional deterioration in Venezuela. Four years later, in 2017the government of Mauricio Macri He officially withdrew the decoration through decree 640/2017, arguing that the actions of the Venezuelan president were incompatible with the values of the Order, especially due to the repression in his country and the lack of respect for democratic principles and human rights.
More than a decade after that diplomatic gesture, the figure of Maduro once again made global headlines after a American military operation in Venezuela at the beginning of this year. United States special forces, including elite units such as the Delta Forcethey carried out the call Operation Absolute Resolvewhich culminated in the capture of the Venezuelan president and his transfer to New Yorkwhere he faces federal judicial proceedings.
This unprecedented operation was presented by the White House as an effort to combat drug trafficking networks and international terrorism, although it generated widespread criticism for the violation of Venezuelan sovereignty and the use of force against a sovereign nation. After his capture, Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were presented in federal court in the Southern District of New Yorkwhere they pleaded “not guilty” to the charges against them. The judicial process marks a historic moment in the international diplomatic universe.
The accusations against Maduro include conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism, international cocaine trafficking and weapons-related crimesin addition to allegations about links with armed groups such as the FARC or Mexican criminal networks, according to court documents and press reports. The United States government has also accused those closest to it of participating in activities of corruption, conspiracy and serious crimes under the umbrella of the so-called “patronage system” and, in previous versions, as leaders of the so-called Cartel of the Suns.
The process in New York not only unleashed a diplomatic crisis but also revived disputes over the legality and legitimacy of the military intervention. International leaders and international law experts said the US operation could violate fundamental norms of the United Nations Charter by involving the capture of a sitting head of state without an international mandate.
In Argentina, political figures linked to Kirchnerism expressed their rejection of US actions on social networks and in communications, calling it a serious transgression of international law. The history of that 2013 recognition, the officials who promoted it and the controversy that accompanied it continues to be a relevant chapter in the legacy of relations between Argentina and Venezuela.
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