Alwaght- President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro has strongly condemned the storming of his country’s embassy in Washington by US police officers.
"The US has raided the premises of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington DC ... a brutal act against international law and lack of respect for embassies in the world," said the president.
The Venezuelan head of state says he gave instructions to take its complaint of the event to the highest authorities and is expecting UN 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 UN system should rule sooner rather than later on this serious violation of the Venezuelan Embassy in the US," he said.
On another note, he urged the US 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, US authorities and the Venezuelan opposition sought to cut off electricity and water services to the building, as well as prevent food from entering by keeping a siege on the premises daily.
In clear violation of international law, police broke into Venezuela’s embassy in Washington DC, arresting activists invited by staff. They prevented the building from being seized by US-backed coup leader Juan Guaido’s people.
After spending over a month camped out in the embassy, the final four activists of the Venezuelan Embassy Protection Collective have been placed under arrest after police broke down doors and entered the premises on Thursday.
Under the 1961 Vienna Convention, embassies are considered sovereign territory of the government they represent, making the action a violation of international law.
Despite the failure of self-declared ‘interim president’ Juan Guaido to launch a coup last month, US authorities continue to recognize his government as the legal authority in Venezuela.
