Brazil closes embassy and evacuates citizens from Syria.
Ambassador Edgard Casciano has already left the country for Lebanon; staff are following the same route; the departure of Brazilians still depends on a plan from Brasília; the situation in Syria has spiraled out of control, according to the Brazilian Foreign Ministry.
Renata Giraldi, reporter for Agência Brasil, Brasília – The Brazilian ambassador to Syria, Edgard Casciano, left the Syrian capital, Damascus, bound for Beirut, Lebanon, by land. He was instructed by President Dilma Rousseff's government to leave Damascus. The order was to withdraw the staff and begin addressing the needs in Beirut. Casciano is still awaiting instructions from Brasília to implement the plan to evacuate Brazilians living in the region.
The Brazilian government awaited signals from the ambassador to determine the appropriate time for the embassy's closure. The plan to evacuate Brazilians could be executed in the coming hours. However, according to diplomats who spoke to Agência Brasil, this will only be announced when it occurs, to avoid risks to the safety of those involved.
Casciano also said that the violence has worsened in the streets of major cities, increasing fear and terror not only among foreigners but also among Syrians. "It's impossible to set foot on the street with so much gunfire. It's an extremely problematic situation," he said.
The ambassador also added that the violence in the Syrian capital had reached such a point that he was forced to close the Brazilian representation yesterday. According to him, these were the most violent days he had witnessed in the country. "Helicopters were constantly flying overhead and you could hear many explosions which, due to their intensity, were the result of heavy weapons."
Casciano, who has been in Damascus, the capital of Syria, for four years, said that the situation in the capital is very tense and there are no longer any security guarantees for foreign embassies in the neighborhood. "We even considered having the Brazilian government send security agents to protect the embassy. But, with the airport closed, the idea was abandoned."
It is estimated that there are around 3 Brazilians in Syria, mostly in the Damascus region, but there is also a community in the Latakia and Tartous regions on the country's coast, a stronghold of Alawites (the sectarian group to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs) and Christians. According to the ambassador, the number is only an estimate, as many Brazilians left the country before the situation worsened.
According to Casciano, the atmosphere in Syria is one of "open war." He said his Syrian friends are very worried and afraid of the future. "The war in Damascus has left them extremely terrified," he said.