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US-VENEZUELA-DIPLOMACY
Pro-Maduro protestors evicted from Venezuela embassy in US
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US police on Thursday evicted the last
of a group of protestors who have been occupying the Venezuelan embassy in
Washington in support of President Nicolas Maduro, ending a weeks-long
standoff.
“The liberation of our embassy came about thanks to the struggle of the
Venezuelan diaspora,” said Carlos Vecchio, envoy for opposition leader Juan
Guaido, who declared himself interim president earlier this year in a power
play against Maduro.
“With sacrifice they held the grounds against all adversity,” said Vecchio
on Twitter.
Police and firefighting vehicles were seen inside the grounds of the
diplomatic mission in the US capital, which was taken over last month by a
number of left-wing and pacifist activists protesting Guaido’s bid to push
Maduro from power.
In Caracas, Maduro condemned the eviction, saying it was done “in a brutal
way” with commando-style forces.
Maduro said he had ordered beefed up security around the US Embassy in
Caracas in line with what he called strict observance of international law.
“We are going to protect it even more, because Venezuela does comply with
international law,” Maduro said in a televised speech.
Venezuela broke off relations with the US after President Donald Trump said
he recognized Guaido as acting president.
The most high-profile of the groups behind the Washington occupation,
CODEPINK, denounced what it called the “illegal entry and arrest at DC
Venezuela Embassy.”
It promised to “keep fighting to protect the embassy from illegal takeover
by Guaido forces.”
“All four of the peace activists who have been inside the embassy have now
been arrested,” said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a lawyer representing the
protesters.
Guaido has been recognized as leader of the crisis-stricken country by some
50 states, including the United States.
For more than a month, an unclear number of Americans belonging to a group
calling itself the Embassy Protection Collective had been living in the
embassy, with the consent of the Maduro government.
The American squatters, whose numbers dwindled to just four people this
week after police warned they would enter the building by force, aimed to
block the entry of the Guaido delegation to the embassy.
A group of Venezuelans had gathered outside the cordoned-off embassy
building Thursday and were chanting slogans such as “Viva Venezuela.”
“I came to see the results of 14 days of our community action, of staying
in our embassy to reclaim what belongs to us,” said Roberto Nasser, a 56-
year-old Venezuelan, who had been spending up to 16 hours a day standing
outside the building.
He and other Venezuelan residents of the capital had camped outside the
embassy and tried to prevent any supplies from being delivered to the
squatters inside.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0831 hrs