US police 'forcibly remove' protesters from Venezuela embassy 'in violation of Vienna Convention'

The protesters had been occupying the embassy for a month, and had been invited in by Venezuelan diplomats before they left amid heightened tensions back home

(AFP/Getty Images)

American police have forcibly removed four protesters who have been living inside the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC, for more than a month — leading critics to claim that the US is violating the Vienna Convention.

The embassy has been the site of a standoff between supporters of the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, and backers of opposition leader Juan Guaido, who Donald Trump has recognised as the interim president of Venezuela.

As conflict continues back home in Venezuela, Mr Guaido’s appointed ambassador to the US, Carlos Vecchio, said that the removal of the four protesters represents a liberation for the embassy.

While Washington police and federal authorities were seen entering the embassy on Thursday morning, no official comment has been made related to the circumstances, according to the Washington Post.

Code Pink, an international peace and social justice group, identified the four protesters arrested in the Venezuelan embassy as Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, Adrienne Pine, and David Paul.

Medea Benjamin, a founder of Code Pink, had previously told CNN that the activists had been given access to the embassy before Venezuelan diplomats left amid the standoff between Mr Maduro and Mr Guaido last month.

The Vienna Convention establishes that diplomatic missions on foreign soil are “inviolable”, and prohibits hosting states from entering embassies unless they were given permission beforehand. Mr Maduro’s government has said they did not give US forces permission to enter.

“The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela does not authorise the entrance of any US law enforcement officers into our former Embassy building in Washington,” Venezuelan deputy foreign minister Carlos Ron said in a tweet. “Any such entrance is an unlawful breach of the Vienna Convention.”