Military-Style Raid on Venezuelan Embassy in Washington D.C. Removes Four Activists

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May 16, 2019

In a move that had been rumored for weeks, U.S. forces have committed a military-style raid on the Venezuelan embassy in Washington D.C. to remove four activists who had barricaded themselves inside at the behest of the socialist Maduro regime.

The video was captured by News2Share and can be seen here:

Counter-protesters chanted “Guaidó! Guaidó! Guaidó!” as the raid took place and other chants in favor of Juan Guaidó , the man who the U.S. and other foreign powers have declared the new Venezuelan president despite the fact that he has not been elected to that post.

“We denounce these arrests, as the people inside were there with our permission, and we consider it a violation of the Vienna Conventions,” Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Ron said.

The remaining members of the “Embassy Protection Collective” had been occupying the embassy for 36 days at the behest of President Nicolas Maduro’s regime. There were as many as 50 individuals in the facility at one point, but after U.S. officers blocked food and supplies from entering, most of them were forced to disperse. The four remaining individuals were finally taken out by military-style personnel.

A trespassing notice was posted on the embassy three days ago, setting the stage for the raid that was successfully completed today:

Journalist Ford Fischer of News2Share reported that he was harassed and threatened by pro-Guaidó forces while reporting outside of the embassy earlier in the week.

Fischer said: “If you were watching my… livestream at the Venezuelan Embassy, then you saw that for the first several minutes, a Guaidó supporter was following me around, holding a sign in front of my camera, and yelling at me that I’m ‘terrorist media.'”

Guaidó attempted a revolution late last month that fizzled out almost immediately. If anything, the apparent coup attempt has only strengthened the rule of the fledgling socialist Maduro regime.

Critics such as the National Lawyers Guild are calling this move a violation of International Law that is tantamount to an act of war.

“The United States’ failure to provide guarantees of security and protection to diplomatic personnel, the Embassy and its guests is in clear violation of the most basic tenets of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, in particular Articles 22 and 45, which was ratified by the United States in 1972. It is well-established law that the people inside the premises of an Embassy, the Embassy’s property and its archives are covered by the Vienna Convention,” they wrote.

Trump will have to be careful to avoid conflict with Venezuela while attempting to do the same in Iran, as war hawks in the administration exert more influence over his foreign policy.

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