WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th April, 2019) The United States will take all appropriate action to protect Venezuela's embassy if US supporters of President Nicolas Maduro refuse to leave the building, a State Department spokesperson told Sputnik.
A group of US activists has been occupying the embassy for more than two weeks. Their goal is to prevent Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido and his so-called government from taking possession of the building.
"Consistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, receiving states, in this case the United States, have a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage," the spokesperson said on Friday.
The State Department official also accused the activists of "illegally occupying the space."
Earlier this week, Kevin Zeese, a member of the Embassy Protection Collective activist group, told Sputnik that they are willing to get arrested to defend the diplomatic property. Zeese said the embassy in Washington belongs to the government of Maduro, who is the UN-recognized leader of Venezuela.
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.
Maduro has accused President Donald Trump's administration of trying to orchestrate a coup to install Guaido, who illegally declared himself interim president in January, 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.
