The US took custody of the Venezuelan embassy and official residences in Washington and New York after the diplomatic mission of the country’s opposition was closed following the removal of Juan Guaido as Venezuelan interim president, people familiar with the matter said.
The US Department of State took over the buildings on Monday, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is sensitive.
The mission was closed because the Venezuelan opposition was left without an executive branch after Guaido was ousted and his interim government was ended after a vote in December last year, they said.
Photo: REUTERS
Representatives for the state department and the opposition did not immediately respond to questions seeking comment.
The incident adds to the confusion over who would represent the opposition in foreign countries. For the past four years, Washington called Guaido Venezuela’s rightful leader and gave full diplomatic recognition to the interim government he led.
The administration, which existed in parallel to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s administration, was also given control of foreign assets, including management of US oil refiner Citgo Petroleum’s parent company.
However, Venezuelan opposition lawmakers late last year voted to end the interim government, effectively removing Guaido.
His ambassador to the US, Carlos Vecchio, promptly left his post after the vote. In his place, opposition lawmakers appointed a representative, Fernando Blasi, who had served as Vecchio’s commercial attache.
However, Blasi was not appointed by an executive branch and therefore was denied an extension on his diplomatic status by the US.
A group of at least a dozen people was still working out of the embassy and diplomatic residences early this week. On Wednesday, they were denied entry to the buildings, after they were last month given 30 days to sort out their migratory status, the people said.
The representatives were told the US would take custody of the embassy, a diplomatic residence and at least two other buildings in Washington, as well as at least one building in New York, the people said.
Vecchio last week turned over the keys to the buildings to the opposition-led Venezuelan National Assembly’s assets council, of which Blasi is a member.
The administration of US President Joe Biden has said it would continue to recognize the National Assembly after Guaido was removed and that it still considered Maduro “illegitimate.”
The National Assembly, which first convened in 2015, is the last democratically elected institution in Venezuela, the US has said.
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