Caracas, July 28 (RHC)-- The Venezuelan government has denounced before the international community the looting and vandalization of its consular headquarters in Bogota, Colombia.

"The Colombian government is in flagrant violation of Articles 22 and 25 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, by allowing, by action or omission, the illegal occupation of our consular headquarters in Bogota," said the South American country's foreign ministry in a statement. 

It maintained that the government of President Nicolas Maduro "holds the government of Colombia responsible for the loss or violation of property, archives and documents, in accordance with the provisions of Article 24 of the Vienna Convention.

The Venezuelan foreign ministry emphasized that according to Article 45 of the Vienna Convention, in the event of the severance of diplomatic relations between two States, or if a mission is definitively or temporarily terminated: "The receiving State shall be bound to respect and protect, even in the event of armed conflict, the premises of the mission and its property and archives." 

The statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concluded by assuring that "the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reserves the right to take any reciprocal diplomatic action that may be necessary to compensate for this unacceptable aggression against the premises of the Venezuelan mission in the Republic of Colombia.

In a message posted on his Twitter account, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza denounced that the Consulate in Bogotá had been vandalized and "completely" looted.  "The Colombian authorities left it without protection, violating the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations. The Colombian state must respond," Arreaza said in his tweet.

Venezuela and Colombia have had no diplomatic relations since February 2019, after President Nicolás Maduro broke ties after several interventionist actions from the neighboring state.