Sputnik International | 16.05.2019Police have been sieging the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, DC despite resistance from activists supporting the diplomatic mission loyal to the country's elected President Nicolas Maduro and accusations of violating the untouchable status of the embassy.US police are breaking into the Venezuelan Embassy located in Washington, DC according to an activist from the human rights group CODEPINK. According to Medea Benjamin, the police are trying to arrest a group of protesters, who have been guarding the facility from being taken over by US authorities. Her words were echoed by another CODEPINK activist, Ariel Gold.BREAKING NEWS: Police breaking into Venezuela Embassy to illegally arrest #EmbassyProtectionCollective, in violation of Vienna Convention. Breaking international law.— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) May 16, 2019Both activists have accused the US of violating the Vienna Convention by breaking into the embassy's premises. Their reports were later confirmed by a Washington Post reporter on the scene, who heard one of the activists guarding the embassy call out a window that police are after them.They're breaking down a door pic.twitter.com/YWSSp7UwzS— Michele Banks (@artologica) May 16, 2019Benjamin later added that the police have already arrested four protesters in the course of the raid. Among those arrested are anti-war activists Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers.Antiwar and #climate activists @KBZeese and Margaret Flowers and two other people opposed to the Trump administration's policies on Venezuela have been arrested by police who entered the Venezuelan embassy in violation of the Vienna Convention. pic.twitter.com/HbqIEBGqay— Mark Hand (@MarkFHand) May 16, 2019The activists from the Embassy Protection Collective have been living inside the embassy since April 24 in a bid to protect it from US attempts to seize the facility. The group was invited by the embassy's Venezuelan diplomats.
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