Coup flops in Venezuela and Guaido's shadow 'ambassador' flees in failure as DC embassy protectors hold their ground

Max Blumenthal
The Gray Zone
Thu, 02 May 2019 15:27 UTC

© The Gray Zone

A group of determined US activists forced Juan Guaido's shadow ambassador, Carlos Vecchio, to flee from a rally that was supposed to mark his triumphant entry into the Venezuelan embassy in Washington

It was supposed to be a day of triumph for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido and his forces in Washington DC. In Caracas, the opposition had launched "Operacion Libertad," a coup attempt that promised to flip high level figures in the military and Maduro's inner circle and deliver Miraflores Palace to Guaido. And in Washington, self-declared ambassador Carlos Vecchio was poised to take control of Venezuela's embassy from Maduro's representatives.

But by the end of the Mayday holiday, Guaido's plot had been resoundingly defeated, while Vecchio was seen fleeing the embassy after his speech before 50 or so fanatical right-wing supporters was overwhelmed by a group of anti-coup protesters both inside and outside the embassy. It was a humiliating defeat for a US-backed opposition that has not achieved a single concrete victory since launching its coup attempt over 75 days ago.

For over a week, a group of US citizens calling itself the "Embassy Protection Collective" has stymied the opposition's plans to seize the embassy, denying its leadership the veneer of legitimacy it has been desperately seeking. Members of the collective moved into the embassy at the invitation of its official owners in the Venezuelan government, and have maintained a round-the-clock presence to prevent a growing mob of opposition activists from occupying the grounds.

On April 30, the pro-coup mob outside turned violent, physically assaulting embassy protectors, and hurling racist, sexist and homophobic abuse at others. The following day, an opposition activist broke into the embassy and ransacked a room before he was removed by Secret Service officers. Hours later, a small band of opposition members destroyed security cameras attached to the embassy. The Secret Service has done nothing so far to prevent or punish criminal acts that violate DC's civil code and Article 22 of the Vienna Conventions on the protection of diplomatic facilities.

At 5 PM on May 1, Vecchio arrived with a gaggle of carefully coiffed supporters in formal wear, presenting the image of a team of professionals ready to get to work. In expectation of the takeover, they brought an official-looking placard and equipment to affix it to the embassy's front door.

But the changing of the guard would never take place. As soon as Vecchio launched into what was supposed to be a victory speech, he was drowned out by chanting from inside the embassy, and from across the street, where anti-coup protesters had filled the sidewalk.

Minutes after his abbreviated speech concluded, Vecchio bolted from the rally and fled down a sidewalk, with Secret Service agents and opposition vigilantes pushing reporters away. His hurried exit from the scene marked the failure of an obviously ill-conceived publicity stunt.

After Vecchio fled the scene, the remains of the opposition mob returned to its favorite practices: hurling racist and sexist invective and death threats at the embassy protectors, vandalizing the embassy, and palling around with Secret Service officers.

Inside the embassy, the embassy protectors celebrated another success. They had held off a takeover attempt on a momentous day, while Guaido's coup flopped in Caracas.

"Today was a major victory for the Embassy Protection Collective," Kevin Zeese, an organizer of the embassy action, told The Grayzone. "Vecchio was embarrassed coming to 'his' embassy and being shouted down. He was unable to demand that we leave the embassy. Now we can say that the US coup is failing even in the United States."

Max Blumenthal is an award-winning journalist and the author of several books, including best-selling Republican Gomorrah, Goliath, The Fifty One Day War, and The Management of Savagery. He has produced print articles for an array of publications, many video reports, and several documentaries, including Killing Gaza. Blumenthal founded The Grayzone in 2015 to shine a journalistic light on America's state of perpetual war and its dangerous domestic repercussions.

Comment: RT, reporting on site adds:

Journalists covering the standoff at the Venezuelan embassy in Washington DC have been harassed by a group of Juan Guaido supporters, who demand that the 'Embassy Civilian Protection Collective' vacate the diplomatic building.

Members of a Telesur crew covering tensions outside the diplomatic compound were verbally assaulted on Friday afternoon by a member of the Venezuelan opposition, who, in a tirade of perfect Spanish, insulted their looks.

"Harassment, taunts, banging in their ears, [and] blocking cameras," appears to be an acceptable way to treat "the media they do not think is on their side," the anti-war A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition pointed out.

"I've covered lots of protests over the years. Never seen more racism vocalized than what I'm seeing from the Venezuelan opposition in DC. Not even in Charlottesville," independent journalist Alex Rubinstein, who has been living in the embassy, tweeted on Friday, in response to a harassment incident.

The US recognized Juan Guaido as the "legitimate" leader of Venezuela in February and told the diplomats representing Maduro's government to leave the country. Activists opposing US interventionism in the Latin America have occupied the diplomatic compound for weeks, refusing to surrender the property to Guaido's supporters.

On Tuesday, at the height of Guaido's failed attempted coup in Venezuela, opposition supporters gathered en masse in front of the diplomatic compound. Chanting and waving Venezuelan flags, protesters immediately verbally engaged a group of anti-war activists being led by Code Pink.

That group is one of the organizations of the "Embassy Civilian Protection Collective" who have been holed up inside the Venezuelan compound in order to prevent diplomats loyal to Guaido from taking control of the building. The activists say they were invited in by embassy staff.

Amid the tense standoff Secret Service and police officers stood between the Maduro and Guaido protesters.

Unable to force the activists to leave the premises, the pro-Guaido protesters began to stop people, food, and supplies from getting into the building. Three activists, including Code Pink's national co-director Ariel Gold, were briefly detained on Thursday. Gold was charged with "throwing missiles," after trying to throw bread, salad boxes, and tampons at those inside the embassy.

On Friday afternoon, Gold streamed a video showing an elderly gentleman getting booked by police for delivering "tooth brushes" to the activists. "Venezuelan Embassy in DC is more wild, violent, racist, unlawful than my times in Hebron, West Bank, Palestine," she tweeted.

Video of the 'contraband' consisting of basic necessities was shared by Alex Rubinstein online.

While the State Department on Thursday called on the "trespassers" to leave, claiming that "Guaido has legal authority over the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, DC," the anti-war lobby is committed to holding the fortress, even if it means arrests.

On Friday, Republican Congressman from Colorado Scott Tipton wrote a letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, asking him to intervene to kick out the Collective from the embassy.

The opposition, meanwhile, continues their efforts to penetrate the compound.

"Opposition continuing their aggressive & potentially deadly tactics," Rubinstein tweeted late on Friday evening, after the pro-Guaido crowd began flashing strobe lights, considered extremely dangerous to people with epilepsy and spectrum disorders. "A man was arrested in the US for sending a GIF to an epileptic reporter yet cops do nothing to stop this. It's increasingly clear they are on State Dept. orders to let the oppo escalate."