US forcibly seizes Venezuela embassy in Washington, arrests 4 anti-Guaido activists

US authorities forcibly entered the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington and arrested four American activists who were trying to defend the facility from falling into the hands of opposition figure Juan Guaido's people, which prompted President Nicolas Maduro to slam the Trump administration for violating international diplomatic conventions.

The four people arrested on Thursday - Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, Adrienne Pine and David Paul - are members of the Embassy Protection Collective, a group of activists who have been living in the embassy since April 10 with the blessing of Venezuela's Foreign Ministry. The group vowed to defend the embassy on behalf of Venezuela's UN-recognized government in Caracas and the country's twice democratically elected leader, Maduro.

A Sputnik correspondent reported from the scene that police were present in significant numbers, complete with K-9 units and other teams in military gear. The police had surrounded the embassy with double metal barriers and at certain locations placed vehicles between them, the corresponded noted.

"This morning, US Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers assisted US Department of State Diplomatic Security Service Special Agents in executing federal arrests warrants against individuals who were inside the Venezuelan Embassy," the Secret Service told Sputnik on Thursday.

Later, a State Department official told Sputnik that US law enforcement arrested the activists for "trespassing." The spokesperson also said the move came at the request of Guaido's envoy in the United States, Carlos Vecchio.

The State Department spokesperson reiterated the US view that self-proclaimed interim president Guaido has legal authority over the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington. The Trump administration had ordered Venezuela's actual diplomats to leave the country by April 24.

Code Pink activist Ariel Gold told Sputnik there were no activists or press representatives near the embassy when the US authorities stormed the building.

"Nobody was at the scene at the time, no other activists and no press. By the time we arrived, you can see that the building and the entire scene looks empty," Gold said.

Gold explained that Kevin Zeese, one of the arrested four - who is co-director of the activist group Popular Resistance and also active in the Green Party - called and told them that police were breaking the doors to enter the building.

The only damage rendered to the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington came at the hands of US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido's people, Code Pink activist Paki Wieland told Sputnik.

In April, Zeese told Sputnik that members of the Embassy Protection Collective were willing to get arrested to protect the building from illegally falling into the hands of Guaido's fake opposition government that was fabricated by the United States.

Zeese, a public interest lawyer, served as press secretary for Ralph Nader's 2004 presidential campaign and was Maryland's Green Party Candidate for US Senate in 2006. Flowers is Co-director with Zeese of Popular Resistance and herself a former candidate for US Senate.

Pine is an associate professor of anthropology at American University of Washington and David Paul, the fourth of those arrested, is a member of the Code Pink activist group. Code Pink is a women-led grassroots social justice and antiwar movement.

The recent treatment of the nonviolent protesters occupying the embassy building has bordered on harassment. Last week, US authorities turned off the water in the embassy and have prevented food and medical supplies from being delivered to the facility.

On Wednesday, Iconic civil rights leader Jesse Jackson visited the embassy to deliver food and show solidarity in trying to prevent a war in Venezuela.

Article 22 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations stipulates that the premises of a diplomatic mission, such as an embassy, are inviolable, and the host country must not enter except by permission of the head of mission.

The activists' legal representative, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, told Sputnik the United States failed to live up to these requirements in seizing Venezuela's embassy building.

"This is an extraordinary violation of the Vienna Convention," Verheyden-Hilliard said on Thursday after the seizure.

Verheyden-Hilliard emphasized that the Venezuelan government had not given the US authorities permission to enter the embassy.

The US government's illegal actions signal that any state that does not like the government of another state "can simply appoint someone else and announce that person as the head of a different country and then hand over a diplomatic mission," Verheyden-Hilliard said.

Advocacy group Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Director Brian Becker told Sputnik that the four activists will remain in detention overnight and appear in US federal court on Friday morning.

Gold said a protest will be staged in front of the Venezuelan embassy on Saturday at noon to denounce the US government's decision to forcibly enter the diplomatic facility in violation of international law and arrest the four activists legally residing there.

Maduro has praised the activists for their bravery, while accusing his US counterpart, President Donald Trump, of violating the rule of inviolability, which covers embassies worldwide.

"The world has been outraged by the Trump administration and police storming the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, DC. The Revolutionary Government of Venezuela together with its people condemns this act by police groups of the Trump administration," Maduro said.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said in a statement Caracas is currently evaluating a potential response within the context of international law based on the principle of reciprocity.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a press briefing on Thursday that the United States and Venezuela should settle their dispute over control of the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington peacefully.

The Venezuelan government has called Guaido a US puppet and has accused Washington of trying to orchestrate a coup to gain control over the country's natural resources.