The move comes shortly after an opposition figure in the country was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by an Oslo-based committee<\/p>\n
Venezuela will close its embassies in Australia and Norway as part of a broader overhaul of its diplomatic network, the government in Caracas announced on Monday. The move is meant to redirect efforts toward building ties with nations in the Global South.
\nThe country\u2019s Foreign Ministry said the restructuring aims to \u201coptimize state resources\u201d and shift Venezuela\u2019s position in a rapidly emerging multipolar world. New missions are expected to open in Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso.
\nThe decision came just days after the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded this year\u2019s Peace Prize to opposition Venezuelan politician Maria Corina Machado.
\nPresident Nicolas Maduro has accused Machado of channeling US government funds to \u201cfascist\u201d groups seeking to topple his administration. Upon receiving the award, she dedicated it to US President Donald Trump, who has openly expressed his own desire to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
\nOslo\u2019s Foreign Ministry, which does not maintain an embassy in Caracas, called the Venezuelan move \u201cregrettable,\u201d adding that despite \u201cdifferent views on several issues, Norway wishes to keep the dialogue with Venezuela open,\u201d according to a statement quoted by Reuters.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: The Nobel that wasn\u2019t Trump\u2019s: Why Oslo chose a Venezuelan rebel over a peacemaker<\/p>\n
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by a committee appointed by the Norwegian parliament as requested in Alfred Nobel\u2019s will, while the four scientific awards are administered by Swedish institutions. The prize for economic studies was added to the array later and is officially called the \u201cNobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.\u201d
\nCritics, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, have argued that the Norwegian committee has \u201cdiscredited\u201d the prize by awarding it in the past to individuals and organizations who did little to promote peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The move comes shortly after an opposition figure in the country was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by an Oslo-based committee Venezuela will close its embassies in Australia and Norway…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t