Venezuelan Embassy in US Ceases Operations After Guaido’s ‘Interim Government’ Dissolved
Activist Detail How Police Stormed Venezuelan Embassy
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The Venezuelan embassy in the United States, which had been under control of Juan Guaido since 2019, said it has ended its operations after the opposition leader’s interim government was dissolved. “We inform the Venezuelan community in the United States, and the public in general, that the Venezuelan Embassy in the United States and all its officials formally ceased functions on Thursday, January 5, 2023,” the statement read on Friday. Guaido associates seized control of the embassy in 2019 after the opposition-controlled National Assembly rejected the 2018 presidential election results and established an “interim government” led by Guaido. The United States then recognized Guaido as interim president. The statement expressed a deep regret about the decision’s possible impact on Venezuelan citizens in the United States. “In the coming days, we will present due accountability,” the statement said. “We thank all the support provided by the representatives of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the US, as well as the local authorities and officials, for all the support given to the noble and just cause for the restitution of freedom and democracy for the Venezuelan people.” On Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the government is prepared to advance the process of normalizing political and diplomatic relations with the United States. Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations with the United States in 2019 after the latter recognized Guaido as the country’s interim president instead of the reelected Maduro. The United States imposed comprehensive sanctions on Caracas, especially targeting the country’s oil and financial industries as well as freezing its reserves. © AP Photo / Susan WalshThe four activists inside the Venezuelan embassy in Washington look outside the window from a second floor on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Clockwise from left: Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, Adrienne Pine, and David Paul.
The four activists inside the Venezuelan embassy in Washington look outside the window from a second floor on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Clockwise from left: Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, Adrienne Pine, and David Paul.At the height of tensions between Washington and Caracas in 2019, dozens of protesters occupied the Venezuelan embassy for weeks in an attempt to prevent the Guaido camp from taking possession of the building. The occupation was carried out with the support of the democratically-elected government of Venezuela. At the time, the US sought to place Carlos Vecchio, the ambassador appointed by Guaido, as the building’s new envoy.With pro-Guaido supporters blocking supplies of food and water from getting into the building at the time, the dire situation even saw civil rights activists Jesse Jackson descend on the scene to assist the anti-war activists holed up inside the embassy.
WorldUS Civil Rights Icon Jesse Jackson Resupplies Blockaded Venezuelan Embassy in DC15 May 2019, 23:26 GMTContacts between the Venezuela and the US resumed to some extent in March 2022, when President Joe Biden sent a delegation to Caracas to negotiate with the Maduro government on the issue of oil supplies amid the energy crisis amplified by Western sanctions against Russia. Talks about a possible thaw in US-Venezuela relations started following reports that the Venezuelan opposition was ready to oust Guaido, and the United States indicated it would not interfere in the process. On Friday, the Venezuelan opposition supported, in a second hearing, the elimination of the self-proclaimed “interim government” that Guaido had led since 2019.
