The Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities begins, this Tuesday, a four-day visit to Venezuela, where he will meet with the head of Venezuelan diplomacy and the Portuguese community, particularly with family members of Portuguese-Venezuelan detainees.
Emídio Sousa, visiting Caracas and Valencia, between this Tuesday and Friday, has as his first item on his agenda a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Yván Gil Pinto.
Meetings with family members of the six Portuguese-Venezuelans who remain detained, with the Portuguese community and with the Portuguese diplomatic representation in the country.
Meetings are also scheduled with Portuguese language teachers, embassy employees in Caracas and counselors from Portuguese communities.
A visit to the Portuguese center of Caracas, a dinner with the Portuguese community, a visit to a Portuguese-Venezuelan home, the Casa Portuguesa do Estado Arágua and the honorary consulate in Maracay are also on the agenda.
In Valencia, Emídio Sousa is expected at the Casa Portuguesa in San Diego, followed by a visit to the consulate general, culminating the visit on Friday with a trip to the Sociedade de Beneficência das Damas Portuguesas, which precedes the trip to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima de Los Teques and the honorary consulate of Los Teques.
A lunch with the Portuguese community in Los Teques and a meeting with representatives of the Venezuelan political opposition complete the visit’s program.
Emídio Sousa’s trip to Venezuela was scheduled for the beginning of March, but it was postponed due to the international context and “due to the resulting need” for the Secretary of State “to coordinate the repatriation operation of Portuguese citizens in the Middle East region”, said a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
