By EUDO-CITIZENSHIP expert for Venezuela José Manuel Caceres

Cuban-born, Venezuelan-raised, three time Grammy Award–nominated singer/songwriter, 1975 Miss Venezuela and actress María Conchita Alonso faces a demand from the Venezuelan state to revoke her Venezuelan citizenship after  asking for an international and military intervention against the country. Maria Conchita Alonso, a bitter critic of the Venezuelan government, has also been critical of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and socialism.

In an interview in May 2014 with the US radio show  “La Voz de America,” Ms. Alonso said: “In my opinion, (the US) must intervene, because the Cubans already invaded Venezuela without firing a single bullet because it was given to them for free. So I would like the US would invade using bullets to get all those communist out of Venezuela.” A few weeks later, she released a song supporting students’ protests against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his government.

On September, 17 2014, according to Venezuela’s Official Gazette N 40,498, the Ministry of Interior and Justice took steps to revoke her Venezuelan citizenship, acquired by naturalisation, pursuant to article 35 of the Venezuelan Constitution. Ms. Alonso was born in Cuba and moved to Venezuela at the age of five.  Several pundits have argued that according to Article 40 of the Venezuelan Constitution, those who acquired Venezuelan citizenship by naturalisation, who arrived in the country before the age of seven and lived there permanently until their majority, are entitled to the same rights as birthright nationals.

Read the news report in the New York Times and El Universal (in English)