Meet Juan Guaidos First Ambassador, Fake Twitter Diplomat Slammed by Costa
Rica for Unacceptable Entry
Maria Faría, the daughter of a would-be Hugo Chávez assassin, illegally
barged into Venezuelas embassy in Costa Rica and declared herself
ambassador. The embarrassing stunt highlighted everything wrong with Juan
Guaidós reality-show government.
By Anya Parampil
While tweeting that she had taken charge of Venezuelas Embassy in Costa
Rica on February 20, Maria Faría demonstrated that she was more familiar
with the conventions of social media than those dictating international
diplomacy.
In fulfillment of the diplomatic functions, assigned by President Juan
Guaido, tweeted Faría, referring to the US-appointed leader of Venezuelas
parallel coup government, we assume control of the administrative
headquarters of the Embassy of Venezuela in San Jose.
The surprise announcement came early Wednesday morning from inside the
Embassy, leading many to wonder how Faría, or @Mandyfaria26 who
describes herself in her Twitter bio as the Diplomatic Representative for
the Venezuelan Republic in Costa Rica was able to secure access to the
Embassy.
A senior Venezuelan official told the Grayzone that Faría and her entourage
were able to access the building by paying its owner to hand over the keys.
Once inside, Faría seemed to believe she could tweet her way to legitimacy,
just as the presidency of her boss, Juan Guaido, had been announced on
Twitter by US President Donald Trump.
But getting her foot in the door would be the least of Farías challenges.
Within hours the young diplomatic wannabe had managed to offend her host
country and demonstrate her lack of qualifications for the job.
The fail-daughter of an exiled coup plotter, her clownish behavior was
hardly unique to a government that existed only in cyberspace and the fever
dreams of John Bolton. Beyond its illegal occupation of the Costa Rican
embassy, Guaidos gang had no Foreign Ministry, let alone any physical
address to govern from.
A month into their shadow puppet government, the attempt to barge into the
consular space exposed the desperation behind their search for legitimacy.
Strong rejection of the performance of
María Faría
Farias first day as the Twitter-proclaimed ambassador quickly deteriorated
into a humiliating debacle.
Costa Rica might have recognized Guaido as President of Venezuela on January
23rd, but her brazen move took the countrys Foreign Ministry by surprise.
Speaking to reporters, Costa Rican Vice Minister Lorena Aguilar announced
that her office deplored the unacceptable entry into Venezuelas Embassy
in Costa Rica by diplomatic personnel of the government of interim
President Juan Guaidó. Aguilar went on to express a strong rejection of
the performance of the diplomatic representative María Faría.
On February 15th, Costa Rica gave diplomats representing the internationally
recognized government of Nicolas Maduro 60 days to leave the country
meaning they legally represented Venezuela in San Jose until April 21st.
Aguilar accused Faria of disrespecting that diplomatic deadline with her
stunt.
In a letter to reporters, Farías staff apologized for cancelling a press
conference scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, announcing she will spend
Thursday discussing her unilateral takeover of the Embassy with Costa Rican
Foreign Minister Manuel Ventura Robles. It was safe to assume the meeting
would include a crash course in international law for the ambitious social
media diplomat.
When Venezuelan diplomats representing Maduros government arrived at the
embassy on Wednesday, they were greeted by a swarm of opposition supporters
blocking its entrance. Several videos posted on social media showed crowds
angrily clashing with the dignitaries as they attempted to enter their
workplace and perform official duties.
The ghosts of terrorist past
Multiple journalists took to social media to note that two of the men who
led the attack on the embassy appeared to be the sons of Eduardo Manuitt,
the former governor of Guarico state in Venezuela. Manuitt is a former
Chavista who turned against the movement after the United Socialist Party of
Venezuela refused to support his daughters efforts to succeed him as
governor. He had been in hiding since 2009 in order to avoid an arrest
warrant over corruption charges alleging he pocketed government funds while
in office.
But the Manuitt boys were not the only children of shady characters involved
in storming Venezuelas Embassy in Costa Rica. In fact, the new diplomatic
representative Faría hails from a family of failed coup plotters.
In 2005, Farías father, retired National Guard Colonel Jesus Faría
Rodriguez, was sentenced to nine years in prison for his involvement in the
Daktari Farm case, a foiled plot to attack the military and assassinate
then-President Hugo Chavez with Colombian paramilitary men disguised in
Venezuelan military garb. Colonel Farías brother, Dario, and nephew,
Rafael, were also sentenced in the case.
In 2006, the elder Faría miraculously escaped from prison, along with Dario
and Rafael. A Denver Post article from that year features a photograph of
young Maria Faría bearing a poster calling for her father and his relatives
to be freed.
Thirteen years later, she would join in the family tradition of clumsily
botched attempts at sedition.
Government by Instagram
Little is known about what qualified Maria to represent the Venezuelan
people from San Jose, or about her professional career at all. An article
published in El Nacional at the time of her fathers prison escape revealed
that the colonel had three children: two boys and a female who has just
graduated as an accountant.
The Faría family virtually disappeared from the public eye after the prison
break. In fact, Maria only posted her first Instagram photo on February 1st,
weeks after Washingtons coup attempt was underway.
Instagram posts she published since that day combine gushing pro-Guaido
sentiment with right-wing talking points about US humanitarian aid and
photos of a woman who appears desperate to look the part of an international
power-player. Her ambitions culminated with her Twitter proclamation of
control over the Venezuelan Embassy in Costa Rica. But then reality set in.
According to Costa Ricas Vice Foreign Minister, Farías entry to the
Embassy injures elementary diplomatic norms of respect and trust in
relations in the international community, and above all, in international
law.
These words perfectly summed up the whole absurd spectacle of the Washington
backed coup attempt.
While Guaido may have fooled some when declaring himself president from the
streets of Caracas, Faria learned the hard way that it would take more than
social media optics campaigns and bribery to declare herself a diplomat. But
within Guaidos right-wing gaggle, there seems to be little interest in the
rule of law. It is a collection of unknown backbenchers, amateurs, and elite
hooligans that equate Twitter proclamations with governmental legitimacy.
At least in this respect, Faria is the perfect representative.
Anya Parampil
Anya Parampil
Anya Parampil is a Washington, DC based journalist. She previously hosted a
daily progressive afternoon news program called In Question on RT America.
She has produced and reported several documentaries, including on the ground
reports from the Korean peninsula and Palestine.
