"Embassy Protective Collective": The Chavista Group which took the Venezuelan diplomatic seat in the United States

The last diplomats in Washington faithful to the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, left Wednesday the embbady of this country in the US capital, but in the interior there remains a hundred chavistes erected in "collective" who "defend" the envoys of the leader of the opposition Juan Guaidó.

Because of its facade, the Embbady looks more like a home than a diplomatic building, with huge handmade banners hanging on the roof and praying. "no to the war for oil","stop the blow","the peace"or"no to lethal penalties"

Another, with the characteristic look of the late President Hugo Chávez, observes the US secret service agents who stand guard in front of the building, located in the posh neighborhood of Georgetown, and who do not want to comment on the purpose of their mission.

The government of Donald Trump had put this Wednesday as the deadline for Maduro diplomats to leavebut before that and knowing the intentions of Guaidó envoys – recognized by more than 50 countries as interim president – to take control of the embbady with the support of the United States, They offered the keys of the building to a group of local chavistes.

The so-called "collective protection of the Embbady", who has been sleeping in the Legation for weeks, called for sympathizers to occupy the building and defend it against possible capture or expulsion, to which a hundred people responded.

From inside the embbady, Linda Helland he explained to EFE that he took a week off and went to Washington from San Francisco (California) to prevent "an illegal takeover of the embbady and especially to prevent an illegal coup d'etat against the elected government of Venezuela"

"It looks like early September 1973, just before the US-backed coup d'etat in Chile (against Salvador Allende), which caused a mbadacre, only five years old at the time and I do not could do nothing, "said Helland.

The Deputy Minister of Venezuela for North America was received by those who were gathered there, Carlos Ron, who recorded a video for the occasion in which he regretted not being able to accompany them to Washington, but encouraged them to stay several days at the embbady.

Yes was one of the advocates of the "protection group", Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, who tried to rebadure the participants by citing international law in the face of rumors that US authorities have expelled the building and arrested those who resist.

"All those who are here are here legally invited by the legally responsible persons of this building, property of the Government of Venezuela."said Verheyden-Hilliard, who also threatened to sue any agent"order or execute illegal expulsions or arrests"

At the embbady, ​​pro-Maduro activists shared gifts that diplomats had left before their departure, such as Venezuelan music records, books, Chávez posters, pins commemorating the bicentennial of the year. independence or personalities of the liberator Simón Bolívar.

Surrounded by Chavez paintings hanging on the walls, Margaret flowers, one of the activists, explained that she was ready to resist: "We do not leave, they tell us to leave, we do not leave"

In mid-March, Guaidó's envoy to Washington, Carlos Vecchio, recognized by the government of Donald Trump as legitimate ambbadador of Venezuela to the United States, has made public its intention to take control of the embbady "the next weeks"

After having occupied with the approval of the United States three Venezuelan diplomatic buildings: two offices of military attachés in Washington and the consulate in New York.

"Vecchio could not take a McDonald's without Trump," joked Medea Benjamin, one of the promoters of the protest, who said that the eyes of a "smiling Chavez" are placed on l & # 39; Embbady.

The Chavistas of the "protection collective" do not know if the authorities have actually expelled them or if Vecchio will try to take control of the building in the next hours, but they are aware that any scenario is possible.

(By Albert Traver – EFE)