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April 23, 2019

Activists Seek to Block U.S. Handover of Venezuelan Embassy to Opposition Leaders
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In Washington, D.C., activists with the groups Code Pink and Popular
Resistance are occupying the Venezuelan Embassy alongside a skeletal
staff of Venezuelan diplomatic workers, where they're demanding the
Trump administration cancel plans to turn the embassy over to Venezuelan
opposition leaders. They're also protesting U.S. sanctions on Venezuela
that have exacerbated a growing humanitarian crisis. The U.S. State
Department has ordered the group to vacate the building by Wednesday. In
response, Code Pink's Medea Benjamin wrote, "Like it or not, the Maduro
government is actually the government in power in Venezuela and is
recognized by the United Nations. This Trump-orchestrated plan of
creating a parallel government and then simply taking over diplomatic
premises is totally illegal."


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