Venezuela Shuts Embassies in Norway, Australia

Venezuela announced on Oct. 13 that it was closing its embassies in Norway and Australia for a “comprehensive restructuring” of its foreign service and to build closer ties with African nations.

Caracas said in a statement published by Venezuelan government-affiliated newspaper Correo del Orinoco that it aimed to make better use of state resources and “redefine our diplomatic presence in order to strengthen alliances with the Global South, promoting solidarity among peoples and cooperation in strategic areas for mutual development.”

“As part of the strategic reassignment of resources, the embassies in the Kingdom of Norway and in Australia will be closed,” the government said. “Bilateral relations and consular assistance for the Venezuelan community in these countries will be efficiently handled through concurrent diplomatic missions, the details of which will be announced in the coming days.”

The executive branch said that new embassies will be opened in Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso, to strengthen Venezuela’s “historical ties with the African continent” and establish “resident diplomatic missions in two sister nations—strategic partners in the anti-colonial struggle and in resisting hegemonic pressures”

A Norwegian foreign ministry spokesperson said: “This is regrettable. Despite the fact that we have different views on several issues, Norway wishes to keep the dialogue with Venezuela open and will work towards that.”

A spokesperson from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told The Epoch Times on Oct. 14 by email that the department “is aware of reports of Venezuelan embassy closures in Norway and Australia and is monitoring the situation.”

Norway and Australia do not have embassies in Venezuela, with Oslo’s and Canberra’s diplomatic missions being handled by their respective embassies in Bogotá, Colombia.

Machado Awarded Nobel Peace Prize

The statement from Caracas did not mention the recent Nobel Peace Prize awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee to Venezuelan opposition politician and former presidential candidate María Corina Machado, though the move came just days after the announcement.

Machado, who won the 2025 prize for championing democracy in the South American country, dedicated her award to President Donald Trump.

Many Latin American and Western governments—including the United States—do not recognize the legitimacy of the socialist regime or the outcome of its elections.

The Norwegian foreign ministry spokesperson said, “The Nobel Prize is independent of the Norwegian government and when it comes to questions about the prize, we refer to the Nobel Committee.”

Kristian Berg Harpviken, secretary of the award body, said the embassy’s closure was not an issue for the committee.

“For the committee, the task at hand is to select the right Nobel Peace Prize laureate,” Harpviken said. “And Maria Corina Machado is certainly a worthy winner!”

Narcoterrorism

The closure of embassies followed weeks of growing tensions with the United States, an ally of both Australia and Norway.

Since September, the U.S. military has conducted several strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea that American officials have said were drug trafficking vessels affiliated with cartels and gangs that earlier this year were designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.

The Trump administration has maintained that Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro is not Venezuela’s legitimately elected president, but a central figure in the region’s drug trade.

In a Sept. 2 Truth Social post confirming a strike against Tren de Aragua narcoterrorists, President Donald Trump reiterated that claim, saying the group was “operating under the control of Nicolás Maduro.”

U.S. allegations of Maduro’s drug trafficking ties are not new.

In March 2020, the Department of Justice announced a $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest and alleged that Maduro’s regime is heavily intertwined with a multi-decade narco-terrorism scheme alongside Colombia’s left-wing FARC movement.

In January, during the final days of U.S. President Joe Biden’s term, the Justice Department increased the arrest reward to $25 million.

The Venezuelan leader has denied the allegations.

Ryan Morgan, Jack Phillips, and Reuters contributed to this report.