Venezuela ROUNDUP: U.S. raid Venezuela embassy a brutal act against international law, says Maduro

 venezuela embassy

The United States has raided the premises of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington D.C. The aggressive act violates all related international laws.

Media reports said:

Nicolas Maduro, the President of Venezuela, has rejected and repudiated the storming of its embassy by U.S. police officers Thursday.

“The U.S. has raided the premises of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, a brutal act against international law and lack of respect for embassies in the world,” said Maduro.

The Venezuelan President said he gave instructions to take its complaint of the event to the highest authorities and is expecting U.N. member states to make declarations against this violation.

“I have told our Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, that we should take the complaint to the highest levels and that the U.N. system should rule sooner rather than later on this serious violation of the Venezuelan Embassy in the U.S.,” he said.

On another note, he urged the U.S. government to respect the human rights of the activists who were inside the diplomatic headquarters for 36 days by the authority of Venezuelan officials.

Activists had been defending the embassy building since the two governments broke diplomatic relations.

However, U.S. authorities and the Venezuelan opposition sought to cut off electricity and water services to the building, and prevent food from entering by keeping a siege on the premises daily.

Earlier reports said:

The U.S. security forces broke into the Venezuela embassy in Washington Thursday and took away the four remaining members of the Protection Collective, Code Pink organization announced.

The activists’ lawyer, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, confirmed the announcement.

Such action violates several articles of the Vienna Convention and breaks international law.

There were security service, federal agents and dozens of D.C. police officers heavily armed at the back entrance of the embassy.

The authorities dressed in military gear took up position in the embassy’s basement where there are no surveillance cameras. This allowed U.S. authorities to make the arrests out of the site of the public and the media.

International law expert, Jose Pertierra, speaking exclusively to teleSUR from Washington said this tactic of trying to remove the protectors via the basement by U.S. authorities is being done “in order to avoid a war of images where they can have police act without the public seeing them.”

Pertierra said that this security force operation violates international law that prohibits a hosting nation from invading the sovereign territory of another country’s embassy.

The law expert said the protesters will likely sue the U.S. administration if they are arrested, “which is not in the interest of the government.”

The activists had been inside the building since mid-April.

Food supplies to the activists protecting the embassy were cut off by U.S. authorities.

They lost weight since barricading themselves in the embassy to protect it against illegal takeover of the building by U.S. authorities and Venezuelan persons supporting Guaido, the imperialist-backed proxy in Venezuela.

Guaido supporters took position outside the embassy.

Carlos Vecchio, appointed by self-declared interim president of Venezuela Juan Guaido as envoy leader to the U.S., ordered the electricity and water illegally turned off at the embassy over the past week.

Protectors inside the facility told Wednesday afternoon they were in good spirits at that time and were trying to negotiate a peaceful deal with the Trump administration under Article 45 of the Vienna Convention that would allow the activists to hand over the embassy to a third party country.

The protectors said that they found a note telling them to leave the building on the main door of the embassy overnight and a lock there had been broken. The article 45 proposal was rejected roundly.

The police pushed back the press from the area around the embassy while supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro raised slogan: “no wars!”

Jesse Jackson brought food to the protectors

World famous civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson was able to bring four bags of food and supplies to the remaining four activists inside the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, D.C. Wednesday afternoon.

The famous rights activist was able to deliver the food to the protectors of the Venezuelan embassy after a violent resistance and struggle by Guaido supporters. The Guaido supporters were determined to prevent the food and medicine reach the protectors.

War drums are beating

After bringing the food to the activist, Jackson told reporters in front of the embassy: “Do not starve Venezuelans into submission. War is futile. We must use diplomacy to bring both sides to the table with the help of the U.N. to figure out a resolution. We’re in a dangerous course in our foreign policy in the hemisphere. War drums are beating. This does not make rational sense.”

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza thanked Jackson by Twitter for his “humanitarian gesture of solidarity with the Protectors Collective protecting our embassy in Washington and with the People of Venezuela demonstrating against the interventions and blockades.”

He wrote:

“We thank the Reverend @RevJJackson
for his humanitarian gesture of solidarity with the Protectors Collective of our Embassy in Washington and with the People of Venezuela, demonstrating against the interventions and blockades #TrumpUnblockVenezuela  #TrumpDesbloqueaVenezuela”

Since March, The Protectors Collective has been in the Venezuelan sovereign territory because the government authorized the group to enter and defend the facilities after the U.S. authorities supported the entry of officials appointed by Guaido, the self-declared “interim president”, the political leader backed by the U.S.

Jesse Jackson has spoken out against US militaristic foreign policy after delivering food supplies to peace activists at the Venezuelan embassy in DC before their forceful eviction.

Jackson said:

We are going to have a major demonstration in front of the embassy on this coming Sunday,” he said. “It will be focused not only on Venezuela but also on Yemen and North Korea and on South and Latin America.

“We want the conflict in Venezuela to be resolved. We want both sides to come to the common table and work out a solution to let people live in peace.”

Stressing that the U.S. has repeatedly violated international law, citing examples of American wars in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, as well as the U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, Rev. Jackson called on peace activists to “intensify struggle” in an effort to change the US’ foreign policy.

“We fight too many wars. We choose too much fighting instead of talking,” he stressed. “People must protest that because if they can violate this [international] law they can violate another.”


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