The Venezuelan embassy in Washington, whose staff supported the opponent Juan Guaidó, announced on Friday, January 6, its closure after the Venezuelan opposition officially ended “provisional government” of the latter.
Juan Guaidó declared himself interim president in January 2019 and received broad international support. The Venezuelan diplomats then stationed in the US capital, loyal to President Nicolás Maduro, ended up returning to Venezuela after the Organization of American States agreed to let an opposition envoy sit in their place. The embassy building had then been occupied for several weeks from April 2019 by supporters of Nicolás Maduro, prompting tense face-to-face encounters with supporters of Juan Guaidó demonstrating in the street until police were evicted by residents.
A “political, economic and moral error”
But Guaidó failed to oust Maduro, and the international support he enjoyed withered away. In late December 2022, three of Venezuela’s main opposition parties approved the removal of their “provisional government”which they had supported anyway when it was established in January 2019. Following this decision, the embassy has “and all its representatives have formally ceased to exercise their functions” as of Thursday, the diplomatic mission said in a statement that said it regrets that Venezuelan citizens in the United States have thus been deprived of consular services.
The outgoing ambassador, Carlos Vecchio, expressed regret in a statement “political, economic and moral error” committed by the opposition by putting an end to Juan Guaidó’s interim, and believed that Nicolas “Maduro (was) the only one who benefits from this decision”.
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