Venezuela's opposition ambassador, the 'Cracker from Caracas', calls for diplomatic recognition

As a high-profile socialite in London in the 1990s, she was known as the “Cracker from Caracas” when she dated Mick Jagger.

Now, as the official representative of Venezuela’s “interim president” Juan Guaido, Dr Vanessa Neumann is determined to use all her explosive charm - alongside her extensive foreign policy experience - to liberate her country from what she calls the “tyranny” of the present regime.

Since her appointment earlier this year by Venezuela’s National Assembly as Mr Guaido’s official representative to Britain, Ms Neumann is at the forefront of the opposition’s attempts to force the country’s current president, Nicolas Maduro, from power.

And, as part of her campaign to lobby support for Mr Guaido’s attempts to end the repression her country has suffered under its hard-left regime, she is calling on the British government to give her full diplomatic backing.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Telegraph at her Kensington apartment, which also doubles as her make-shift embassy, Ms Neumann called on Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to resolve the confusion surrounding her diplomatic status.

“I have been received by the British government as the official representative of interim President Guaido, but I have not been able to present my credentials to the Queen,” she explained.

“The British government has shown its support for Guaido, and says it is fully behind us. Yet they continue to grant full diplomatic status to a government that is totally repressive.

“They have even allowed Venezuela to send a new military attache to London. This is an outrage. The military is involved in torture, repression and money laundering.

"This glaring inconsistency provides succour for an administration it does not recognise.”

Now Ms Neumann, a political risk expert, is hoping to arrange meetings with Mr Raab and Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a bid to resolve her diplomatic status.

She is calling on the British government to revoke the diplomatic status of the Maduro government’s official representative to London and allow her to take over the Venezuelan Embassy.

“Other countries like the US that support Guaido have done this and officially given the representative of the interim government diplomatic recognition,” she said.

“If the British government were to give us full diplomatic status, it would be a great boon for the forces of democracy in Venezuela. We need Britain to be on the right side of history.”

Ms Nuemann’s  impressive network of social connections means she is well-placed to lobby on behalf of the Guaido cause. Apart from dating a Rolling Stone, she was also married to the writer and journalist Bill Cash, and was a popular figure on London’s social scene, meeting up-and-coming politicians such as Mr Johnson. She is now working on setting up a more formal meeting with Mr Johnson.

And she is also hoping to meet soon with Mr Raab, whom she met at this year’s Conservative Party ball, when he was still a backbencher.

“He seemed to understand our position, and he was very supportive,” she said.

Britain was among more than 50 countries that supported the opposition led by Mr Guaido against the Maduro government, which resulted in mass street protests earlier this year.

But Mr Maduro, who has received backing from Cuba and Russia, has managed to cling to power by maintaining his regime’s repressive practices. According to Ms Neumann, an estimated one third of the members of the country’s National Assembly, which is controlled by Mr Guaido’s supporters, have been arrested, forced into exile or even murdered during the past year.

Meanwhile the country is on the verge of a humanitarian disaster, with an estimated 17 million people facing starvation. In addition the Maduro regime continues with its repressive policies, with an estimated 8,000 extrajudicial murders said to have taken place in the past year.

“All they do under Maduro is murder the opposition, traffic drugs and launder money,” says Ms Neumann, who owes her appointment to the work she did previously exploring the links between drug lords said to be linked to the Venezualan government and terror groups, such as Hizbollah. She even spoke at a counter-terrorism conference in London chaired by then Home Secretary Theresa May.

She decided to take a more active role in the opposition after witnessing violent anti-government protests in 2017.

“I saw the military running over students with armoured tanks and students being shot. I was completely outraged.

“I have always been deeply concerned about what I see happening in Venezuela. After Chavez came to power in 1999, I saw how his regime centralised power at the expense of the constitution which resulted in a descent into tyranny.”

And she is particularly critical of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for continuing to support the Maduro regime.

“I think it is shocking that Jeremy Corbyn can declare his support for a regime that abuses human rights, ignores the rule of law and crushes democratic opposition. Mr Corbyn is guilty of rank hypocrisy.”

Now she wants the government to back the opposition cause.

“We want Britain to help us liberate our country from tyranny.  “And we want to build a long-term relationship with after the tyranny has ended. You could say there is a wonderful post-Brexit opportunity for Britain once the regime has been removed.”