WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th April, 2019) Activists remain inside the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington with opposition leader Juan Guaido's representatives nowhere in sight, now more than 19 hours after a US-government imposed deadline expired for diplomats to leave.
On Thursday, Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Arreaza told reporters that Caracas welcomes US activists' attempts to prevent the Venezuelan embassy in Washington from being taken over by the opposition.
The US State Department ordered Venezuelan diplomats to leave the embassy by midnight local time on Wednesday (04:00 a.m. GMT on Thursday). The activists have not been ordered to leave yet, although US authorities and Guaido's representatives are expected to take over at any time.
A number of activists, who have been living in the embassy for the last couple of weeks with the permission of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, are currently staying inside the mission as a sign of support for the legitimate President Nicolas Maduro and are determined to resist the takeover of the diplomatic building.
As of early evening Thursday, the situation around the Embassy appeared calm with only a few people in front of the building. The only secret service car in the area moved closer to the entrance and the agent is talking to activists in front of the building. No other law enforcement officers are in sight.
Some of the activists are sitting on the steps of the embassy building while others look through the opened windows.
Several media outlets are stationed outside and covering the developing situation.
The Venezuelan flag continues to fly on the building along with numerous banners reading "No War For Oil" and "End the deadly sanctions" along with "Hands off Venezuela" and "Stop the Coup."
On Tuesday, Kevin Zeese, a member of the Embassy Protection Collective activist group, told Sputnik that his group was willing to risk arrest to protect the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington from being taken over by officials from Guaido's "fake" government. Zeese said it was important to note that Maduro's government is the only one recognized by the UN.
The activist leader stressed that the Embassy Protection Collective will not leave the Embassy grounds until the United States works out an agreement with the Venezuelan government.
Zeese described the accommodations as "very comfortable," noting that the group members have access to showers, a kitchen, and couches to sleep on. Many of the group members, he added, even have their own individual rooms.
The group has used the building as their work space during the day while holding nightly "political education" events, Zeese said, which have been attended by anywhere from fifteen to one hundred people on a regular basis.
In January, Guaido illegally attempted to declare himself interim president of Venezuela. Washington immediately endorsed Guaido, called on Maduro to step down and seized billions of Dollars' worth of the country's oil assets. The United States has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Venezuela and has tried to shut down the country's oil trade.
Some 40,000 Venezuelans have died in less than two years as a result of illegal US sanctions, a study co-authored by world-renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs revealed on Thursday. UN special rapporteurs and human rights lawyers have described US economic sanctions on Venezuela as illegal, with some even describing them as crimes against humanity.
Maduro has accused President Donald Trump's administration of trying to orchestrate a coup to install Guaido as a puppet so Washington can control the country's oil resources.
Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia, Turkey and a number of other countries have voiced their support for Maduro as the only legitimate president of Venezuela.
