[News] White House Takes Possession of Venezuela’s Embassy in Washington DC

[Anti-Imperialist News]

orinocotribune.com
<https://orinocotribune.com/white-house-takes-possession-of-venezuelas-embassy-in-washington-dc/>
White House Takes Possession of Venezuela’s Embassy in Washington DC
orinocotribune- February 10, 2023
------------------------------
[image: The remaining four members of the Embassy Protection Collective who
held down the embassy until they were evicted and arrested by the US Secret
Service. Photo: Peoples Dispatch.]

The remaining four members of the Embassy Protection Collective who held
down the embassy until they were evicted and arrested by the US Secret
Service. Photo: Peoples Dispatch.

Since this Monday, February 6, the US Department of State took possession
of the Venezuelan Embassy headquarters, the ambassador’s residence in
Washington DC, and the Venezuelan Consulate in New York, according to a
Bloomberg report
<https://www.bloomberglinea.com/2023/02/09/eeuu-pasa-a-tomar-custodia-de-embajada-venezolana-tras-remocion-de-guaido/>
citing “people familiar with the matter.” This was done in response to the
disbanding of the fake Venezuelan diplomatic mission led by Carlos Vecchio,
after the removal of Juan Guaidó as “interim president,” a decision taken
by the same far-right groups that maintained that fictional position
following US orders.

According to anonymous sources, custody of the properties is due to the
fact that, in the opinion of the US diplomacy and their failed
understanding of international rules, there is no executive branch that
represents the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. This disregards the fact
that Washington has been sending high level delegations in recent months to
directly negotiate with the government of Nicolás Maduro.

The US has taken possession of the embassy, a diplomatic residence, “and at
least two other buildings in Washington, as well as at least one building
in New York,” the report says. Therefore, the United States would judge the
Venezuelan presidency as a political and diplomatic vacuum, a paradox that
leaves no doubt that the “Guaidó project” has definitively failed.

Federal Charges Against Four Venezuelan Embassy Protectors Dropped
<https://orinocotribune.com/federal-charges-against-four-venezuelan-embassy-protectors-dropped/>

Bloomberg comments that “the incident adds to the confusion about who will
represent the opposition abroad,” since for Washington, Guaidó is no longer
the “legitimate ruler” of Venezuela, but his “interim team” still maintains
possession of Venezuelan assets abroad, such as the CITGO Petroleum Corp,
money in international bank accounts, and the gold seized by the Bank of
England.

Although the illegitimate National Assembly—elected in 2015 for only five
years (AN 2015—removed Leopoldo López’s protégé as “interim president” and,
therefore, Carlos Vecchio ceased to be the “Venezuelan ambassador to the
United States,” they appointed Fernando Blasi as his successor; but the
Biden administration did not recognize him, because the decision does not
emanate from an executive branch.

Thus, the AN 2015 workers who lived in the diplomatic spaces in Washington
DC and New York (usurping functions) were denied entry to the premises
after the US decision. “In January,” reports the New York outlet, “they
were given a period of 30 days to resolve their immigration status, the
source said.”

Who’s Behind the Pro-Guaidó Crowd Besieging Venezuela’s D.C. Embassy?
<https://orinocotribune.com/whos-behind-the-pro-guaido-crowd-besieging-venezuelas-d-c-embassy/>

Are the doors open for Washington to recognize the presidency of Nicolás
Maduro as legitimate, after months of negotiation within the framework of
the Mexico Talks, as well as US diplomatic trips to the Miraflores Palace?
It is uncertain, taking into account the official statements of the White
House; Joe Biden’s government said it would continue to recognize the AN
2015 as “legitimate” and President Nicolás Maduro as “illegitimate.”


*Embassy protectors *Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, Adrienne Pine and David
Paul, as part of the Embassy Protection Collective, had begun living at the
Venezuelan embassy in order to protect it from occupation by the Juan
Guaidó-backed Venezuelan opposition forces. Supported by the US, Guaidó had
been orchestrating a coup d’état against democratically elected Venezuelan
President Nicolás Maduro.

In April 2019, when the Guaidó project began, the Venezuelan diplomatic and
consular mission to the United States was forced to leave the country, so
anti-imperialist solidarity groups assumed the responsibility of creating
the Embassy Protection Collective to avoid far-right and fake Venezuelan
diplomats to take these facilities.

The collective began occupying and protecting the embassy with
authorization from the Venezuelan government, in full concordance with the
Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic Relations.

President Thanks Defenders of Venezuelan Embassy in Washington
<https://orinocotribune.com/president-thanks-defenders-of-venezuelan-embassy-in-washington/>

In May 2019, 37 days after the protectors began living in the embassy,
police illegally broke in and arrested the four remaining members of the
Embassy Protection Collective, after the other members, out of almost 30,
voluntarily abandoned the building to avoid legal harassment. The late
Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, Adrienne Pine, and David Paul, the four
remaining members of Embassy Protection Collective, were subjected to a
long and expensive legal battle for several months after a mistrial was
announced on February 2020.

According to the Vienna Convention, the premises of a foreign mission are
“inviolable,” and “the agents of the receiving state may not enter them,
except with the consent of the head of the mission.” Even if the diplomatic
relations between two countries are broken, article 45 of the Convention
stipulates that “the receiving state must, even in case of armed conflict,
respect and protect the premises of the mission, together with its property
and archives.” It must also be noted that the United Nations recognizes
only one legitimate government in Venezuela: the one led by President
Nicolás Maduro.

(Misión Verdad
<https://misionverdad.com/eeuu-toma-posesion-de-la-embajada-venezolana-en-washington-dc>)
with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/AU
  <https://orinocotribune.com/author/orinocotribune/>
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