Above photo: US Secret Service agent holding a machine gun while raiding the Venezuelan Ambassador Residence in Washington DC on Thursday, February 15, 2024. X/@PenguinSix.
Officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Secret Service raided the residence of the Venezuelan ambassador in Washington. The diplomatic building was illegally occupied by the fugitive from Venezuelan justice Carlos Vecchio with complicity from US authorities since he declared himself Venezuela’s ambassador during the failed US “regime change” operation led by former deputy Juan Guaidó, who proclaimed himself “interim president” of Venezuela in 2019.
According to a report posted by photojournalist Kyle Mazza on social media on Thursday, February 15, police activity could be seen in the area, and FBI officers were wearing bulletproof jackets and carrying long guns.
“FBI and United States Secret Service officers have raided the Venezuelan Ambassador’s Residence in Washington, DC on February 15, 2024. Heavy police activity could be seen in the area, and FBI agents had raid jackets on, as well as long guns. At approximately 8:50 PM, agents yelled ‘surrender’ after calling out that they were on site and ‘police,’” wrote Mazza.
Initially, the causes of the incident were unclear. Several hours after the raid of the diplomatic building by US security forces, the same journalist reported that the deployment was the result of a trespassing alarm.
“According to authorities, Thursday evening’s (February 15, 2024) police search activity by FBI, heavily armed Secret Service, and MPD Police K9s at the Venezuelan Ambassador’s Residence in Washington DC was the result of a potential trespasser and not due to a raid as originally suspected, alarms went off around the property due to the potential trespasser. Authorities searched the premises for several hours before clearing the area late Thursday night following their investigative work. Investigators from the Secret Service crime scene unit took photos of the area and property where the potential trespass incident took place,” wrote Mazza.
In January 2023, self-declared Ambassador Vecchio reported the cessation of his “diplomatic activities” in the US. He announced this news through a statement in which he also condemned the decision by the Venezuelan far-right Unitary Platform leadership, initially supportive of Guaidó, to disband his “interim government.” Vecchio is accused in Venezuela of treason, usurpation of functions, and association to commit a crime.
According to a Bloomberg report citing “people familiar with the matter,” the US Department of State took possession of the Venezuelan Embassy headquarters, the ambassador’s residence in Washington DC, and the Venezuelan Consulate in New York on February 6, 2023. This was done in response to the disbanding of the fake Venezuelan diplomatic mission led by Carlos Vecchio after Juan Guaidó’s removal from “interim president,” a decision made by the same far-right groups that initially supported the self-declared government following US orders.
Venezuela and the United States severed diplomatic and consular relations at all levels in 2019, and the US government has since opposed Venezuela’s proposed plan to open Offices of Interest wherein Türkiye would represent Venezuelan interests in the US and Switzerland would represent US interests in Venezuela. The imperial US arrogance only accepted a plan where Switzerland would serve as the only intermediary, which was not an option for Venezuela considering how submissive the Swiss Foreign Service is to US imperial interests and how infiltrated it is by US intelligence.
Venezuela’s respect and compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations permitted all US consular and diplomatic headquarters on Venezuelan territory to be constantly protected and free from violation. However, this was not the case for Venezuelan diplomatic and consular offices in the US, with the White House allowing and encouraging the occupation of the consulate by illegitimate and unlawful far-right representatives of the fictitious “interim government” led by Guaidó.