Washington, DC–The People’s Embassy Protection Collective at the Venezuela Embassy grew to as many as 150 people as more activists arrived from around the country. They continue to stand firm against a possible Secret Service intrusion to take over the building.
On Thursday, Elliott Abrams, the U.S. envoy for Venezuela, called on the Secret Service to arrest and remove the activists, but organizers believe such an operation would be difficult because of the number of people staying there.
Venezuela diplomats invited organizers to the embassy three weeks ago after unofficial persons representing former Venezuelan Parliament leader Juan Guaidó took over the Venezuelan Consulate in New York City. The office of the Venezuelan Military Attaché in Washington, DC is also in opposition hands after Col. Jose Luis Silva Silva switched allegiance to Guaidó.
As of Wednesday, April 24, all Venezuelan diplomats loyal to President Nicolás Maduro had been forced out of the United States.
President Nicolás Maduro won re-election in May 2018, with majority support of 68 percent of Venezuelans. In a last-minute move to delegitimize the election, the opposition alliance pulled out of an agreement on the election date and boycotted. In January, National Assembly President Juan Guaidó declared himself interim President of Venezuela with the support of the United States.
International press coverage and nightly forum live streams of educational events at the Venezuela Embassy are fanning interest in the standoff and have helped spread word among activists that the People’s Protection Collective has taken a firm stand against possible intrusion.
The People’s Embassy Protection Collective in front of the embassy’s locked doors./Photo by John ZangasPeople’s Collective Refuses To Leave Embassy
Before they were expelled, diplomats handed over the keys and control of the embassy building to the activists with consent for them to remain there.
The Collective plans to stay at the embassy indefinitely and continue to sleep there at night. Yesterday, about 150 were inside the embassy and about 50 stayed overnight. They believe the Secret Service may try to remove them any time.
The situation puts the Trump administration in a pickle, according Kevin Zeese, one of the organizers. “If they arrest us, it makes them look bad, and every day we stay here, it makes them look bad,” he said. “Imagine what other countries are thinking about the United States in regard to their own embassies,” he added.
The embassy defenders rally below banners hanging on the front of the Venezuelan Embassy./Photo by John ZangasInternational Law on the Side of the Embassy Defenders
There is no case of Americans standing up to their own government by staying at an embassy on behalf of another democracy to prevent it it from removing the diplomatic staff of elected government.
Embassies are considered sovereign territory under Article 22 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and any attempt by a host country to enter or to remove persons there without permission of the parent country is illegal, according Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, an attorney who specializes in constitutional law. “The Embassy is inviolable. Everyone here is lawfully at the invitation of those lawfully in charge of this building, which is owned by the government of Venezuela,” she said.
Verheyden-Hilliard sent a letter to the State Department asserting that the activists were invited guests of the government of Venezuela and considered tenants of the embassy building under DC law. “It is our intention to hold responsible any person who orders or effectuates any unlawful actions against us,” she wrote.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza sent a prerecorded message to the activists via social media which was live-streamed:
“A month ago, the United States government illegally seized our consulate building in New York and two military attaché buildings in Washington. The building that houses our OAS mission and housed our embassy is property of the Venezuelan state. What they did in the consulate and attaché buildings is a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. We have to protect that Venezuelan building. It would be crazy for [the US government] to enter illegally. Have we proposed that for the U.S. embassy in Caracas? Never. Now, if they do it, we would have to think about how to reciprocate in that case. I hope it doesn’t happen. I hope our compañeros and compañeras who have been bravely protecting Venezuelan assets can go home at ease over the next few days if the United States government decides to respect diplomatic and consular conventions and respect the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela’s assets. The action they have taken is a preventative one which we respect.”
Organizers Invite Speakers For Nightly Live-streamed Events
John Kiriakou, who worked for the CIA from 1990 until 2004, spoke at the embassy on Wednesday night at a standing-room-only event. He told of his firsthand knowledge of past CIA operations and its role in overt actions against past governments worldwide.
Kiriakou pointed to the CIA involvement in the removal of the government of Iraq in 2003 and its water boarding torture methods, which he later revealed to the public. He said the CIA was responsible for previously overthrowing seven governments, including those of Iran (1953), South Vietnam (1963), Brazil (1964), Chile (1973), El Salvador (1980-1992), Iraq (2003) and Haiti (2004).
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLAJrQAWev4]
These actions had resulted in the rise of fascist dictators or military juntas, and the populations of these states are still suffering from economic fallout decades later. Those affected had turned against the United States, according to Kiriakou.
Kiriakou spoke from his experience as a senior CIA executive and his witness to its role in the 2003 overthrow of the government of Iraq. The attempted removal of President Nicolás Maduro was “typical of what was happening” at the CIA, he said. “Mark my words, the same thing is happening right now with Venezuela. Somebody at the CIA wrote a memo [titled] ‘We should overthrow the government of Venezuela.’”
A banner depicting former Venezuelan President Chavez’s eyes on the Embassy./Photo by John ZangasMeanwhile, outside the embassy Secret Service wait in police vehicles, while several officers have been standing watch. Organizers have strung giant banners from the top floors of the embassy. One banner reads, “Stop The US Coup,” and another reads, “No War For Oil,” while another banner was painted with a giant image of the eyes of former President Chavez looking towards the north. Posters and signs dot treeboxes in front of the embassy. The front doors are chained, and inside the windows are the messages diplomats and their staff put up before they left, declaring the embassy is rightfully the sovereign property of the elected government of Venezuela.
Live stream of forums and ongoing actions at the Venezuela Embassy are here.
