Washington, DC—Four peace activists who remained in the Venezuelan embassy for 36 days were released from police custody on Friday afternoon, just over 24 hours after federal agents raided the embassy in Georgetown. They were charged with “interfering with a federal law enforcement agent engaged in a protective function,” a class A misdemeanor. They are staying at a safe house in the District, recovering from their ordeal.
At about 9 am on Wednesday morning, Federal Protection Service officers of the Department of Homeland Security entered the Venezuelan embassy and arrested the four activists who were the last of a group of 30 individuals calling themselves the Embassy Protection Collective. The operation took about two hours as dozens of agents from at least four agencies, some dressed in full tactical gear, went from room to room with battering rams. They cleared each room making sure no one was inside.
With the raid and arrests, the dramatic 36-day stand-off at the embassy was over. However, it begins the the next chapter in an international struggle to keep the democratically elected government of Venezuela from being ousted.
The siege produced dramatic scenes between supporters and opposition that spread across social media. U.S. mainstream media effectively blacked out coverage of this story from its beginning.
Activists had repeatedly stated during the siege they were in the embassy at the invitation and pleasure of the democratically elected government of Venezuela. Any attempt to remove them, they argued, was illegal under the Vienna Convention which the U.S. co-signed with 32 other nations in 1961.
Those arrested were Kevin Zeese and Dr. Margaret Flowers, co-founders of Popular Resistance; Dr. Adrienne Pine, a medical anthropologist and Professor at American University; and David Paul, a member of Code Pink.
“The fact that the State Department has broken into a protected diplomatic mission to arrest peace activists will have repercussions the world over,” said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, an attorney representing the interests of the activists. “This is an extraordinary violation of the Vienna Convention.”
Tuesday Afternoon Drama May Have Sparked Wednesday Morning Raid
On Tuesday, Reverend Jessie Jackson joined a rally in support of the activists from outside the embassy. He participated in a food delivery across opposition lines, in which supporters wrestled with opposition after activists in the embassy dropped a rope from a window to pull up a backpack of food. While supporters grabbed the rope thrown down to them, opposition tried to stop the delivery. Reverend Jackson could be seen in the video carrying food to the embassy.
Ajamu Baraka, former 2016 Green Party candidate for Vice President, intervened as several opposition members placed hands on and tried to wrestle food packages from Reverend Jackson. Baraka and several other supporters pulled opposition away from Jackson as he attempted a humanitarian food delivery, allowing supporters to allow activists above to pull up a backpack of food. The delivery would have extended the ability of the activists to remain in the embassy. DC Metropolitan police stood by watching and there were no arrests, despite clear video evidence that the opposition assaulted supporters.
Activists Already Stood Down a Raid by Federal Agents Monday Night
On Monday night, federal agents massed outside the embassy for a raid, and cut the chains on the doors. Carlos Vecchio, the man the Trump administration would like to install as ambassador of Venezuela, and his staff waited to gain access to the embassy. But attorney Verheyden-Hilliard intervened and warned the officers of the consequences of violating a treaty without having produced an authentic document or having substantive authority. They went inside anyway, but about 20 minutes later, they left without arresting the activists. She had effectively stopped the raid in its tracks.
Embassy Raid Has International Implications
The forced removal of the activists could potentially set in motion a precedent in future disputes between governments. PPAs will not hold as much weight if other government take the lead of the U.S. to allow a takeover an embassy by force. By going against the Vienna Convention, the U.S. has signaled it no longer regards foreign embassies as inviolable territory. This could endanger personnel in embassies of other nations where governments have disputes, according to Kevin Zeese.
An ironic development in the raid and subsequent charge against the activists is that they were not charged with trespassing, although it was the basis for federal agents ordering them to leave and eventually returning to arrest them in the embassy. “They were not charged with trespassing because the US government does not want to explain who is lawfully in charge of these premises,” said Attorney Mara Verheyden Hilliard.
For now, the activists are recovering and resting and preparing for the next phase in the Venezuelan Embassy takeover. They have been issued an 100 foot stay-away order from all Venezuelan missions.
Demonstrations at the Venezuelan embassy are planned in the coming days to pressure on the Trump administration from allowing self-declared Ambassador Carlos Vecchio and his staff from entering the embassy.
