Anti-War NGO Pushing Petition Asking US To Approve Alleged Ankara-Caracas Embassy Deal

Internationally-active anti-war NGO Codepink, whose activists protected the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington from being seized by opposition leader Juan Guaido's supporters, issued a petition on Thursday urging the US State Department to approve an agreement, allegedly reached by Ankara and Caracas, that would allow the former to be the caretaker of the embassy

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd May, 2019) Internationally-active anti-war NGO Codepink, whose activists protected the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington from being seized by opposition leader Juan Guaido's supporters, issued a petition on Thursday urging the US State Department to approve an agreement, allegedly reached by Ankara and Caracas, that would allow the former to be the caretaker of the embassy.

According to Codepink, this protecting power agreement was signed on Tuesday, but must be approved by the US State Department to go into effect.

"It is in the US interest to approve this agreement because then the Venezuelan government will approve a similar Protecting Power Agreement reached between the United States and Switzerland to give the Swiss government control of the US Embassy in Caracas and provide critical functions such as assisting US citizens," Codepink said in a statement.

Switzerland agreed to be the caretaker of the US Embassy in Venezuela more than a month ago but nothing has taken effect yet. Codepink learned that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government would approve this deal if the United States approved the protecting power agreement.

As noted by the NGO, there are disagreements within the US government on the matter, with associates of National Security Adviser John Bolton wanting to pass control over the Venezuelan embassy to the supporters of Guaido, who illegally proclaimed himself Venezuela's interim president back in January.

"We must convince the more rational members of the Trump administration that approving the Protecting Power Agreement between Venezuela and Turkey is in the interest of the U.S. government and in the interest of the people of both nations," Codepink stressed.

The petition, addressed to US State Secretary Mike Pompeo, has already been signed by almost 2,000 people.

Last week, the four remaining Codepink activists who had been residing in the Venezuelan Embassy for nearly a month to protect the facility from being taken over by the United States or Guaido's supporters, were arrested by the US Secret Service and State Department police. They were then released on the condition that they would not try to return to the diplomatic mission.

Tensions in Venezuela have been high since Guaido proclaimed himself interim president in January and received recognition as such from the United States and its allies.

Maduro, in turn, has accused the United States of trying to orchestrate a coup in order to install Guaido as its puppet. Russia, China, and a number of other countries have voiced their support for Maduro as the only legitimate president of Venezuela.