[News] US Police Break Into Venezuela Embassy in DC, Arrest Four Activists

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://sputniknews.com/us/201905161075059512-police-venezuela-embassy/


  US Police Break Into Venezuela Embassy in DC, Arrest Four Activists

16:35 16.05.2019
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Police have been sieging the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, DC 
despite resistance from activists supporting the diplomatic mission 
loyal to the country's elected President Nicolas Maduro and accusations 
of violating the untouchable status of the embassy.

US police have broken into the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, DC and 
arrested four protesters from the Embassy Protection Collective, 
according to Medea Benjamin, an activist from the anti-war group 
CODEPINK. Among the four who were arrested during the raid are anti-war 
activists Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers. A US Secret Service 
spokesman confirmed that it had helped Department of State's Diplomatic 
Security arrest the remaining Embassy Protection Collective protesters 
inside the Venezuelan Embassy.

"This morning, US Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers assisted US 
Department of State Diplomatic Security Service Special Agents 
in executing federal arrests warrants against individuals who were 
inside the Venezuelan Embassy", the Secret Service statement said.

Benjamin cited Venezuela's Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Ron 
as denouncing the US actions as a violation of the Vienna Conventions 
and slamming the arrest of Embassy Protection Collective members.

"We call on the US government to sign a Protecting Power Agreement 
to ensure the integrity of our Embassy in DC and the US Embassy 
in Caracas. We do not authorise any of the coup representatives to enter 
the Embassy", he was quoted as saying by the CODEPINK activist.

    The press and a handful of activists have converged at the back
    of the building on 29th St. This is where a walkway to the back
    courtyard and the underground garage lead. Consensus seems to be
    police may bring any detainees out this way. Street is blocked.
    #VenezuelaEmbassy
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/VenezuelaEmbassy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
    #DC <https://twitter.com/hashtag/DC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
    pic.twitter.com/mpiBBGgwy8 <https://t.co/mpiBBGgwy8>

    — Marissa J. Lang (@Marissa_Jae) May 16, 2019
    <https://twitter.com/Marissa_Jae/status/1129025336216346624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

CODEPINK activists' reports were later confirmed by a Washington Post 
reporter on the scene, who heard one of the protesters guarding the 
embassy call out a window that police are after them. The reporter 
spotted an ambulance approaching the embassy's garage and paramedics 
rolling out stretchers. So far, no injuries have been reported among the 
protesters.

    Antiwar and #climate
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/climate?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
    activists @KBZeese <https://twitter.com/KBZeese?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
    and Margaret Flowers and two other people opposed to the Trump
    administration's policies on Venezuela have been arrested by police
    who entered the Venezuelan embassy in violation of the Vienna
    Convention. pic.twitter.com/HbqIEBGqay <https://t.co/HbqIEBGqay>

    — Mark Hand (@MarkFHand) May 16, 2019
    <https://twitter.com/MarkFHand/status/1129021930667954176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

The activists from the Embassy Protection Collective have been living 
inside the embassy since 10 April in a bid to protect it from US 
attempts to seize the facility and hand it over to supporters 
of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido. The group was invited 
by the embassy's Venezuelan diplomats, who were forced to leave US soil.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro earlier slammed US attempts to seize 
the property of the country's embassy, pointing to its "inviolability" 
under international treaties regulating the activities of diplomatic 
missions.

*READ MORE:* Venezuela Tried to Talk to US Authorities About Washington 
Embassy Issue — Envoy 
<https://sputniknews.com/latam/201905161075044550-venezuela-tried-talk-washington-dc-embassy/>

Relations between the US and Venezuela have been spiralling downward 
since Washington recognised Juan Guaido's claim to be the Latin American 
state's interim president and supported his aspirations to oust 
democratically elected President Maduro. The latter has slammed Guaido 
as a "US-puppet" attempting to conduct a coup in Venezuela.

-- 
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