Handover during the Venezuelan presidential crisis
On January 24, 2019, Nicolás Maduro ordered the closure of both the embassy and all Venezuelan consulates in the United States. This move came as a response to US recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president. On January 29, 2019 Juan Guaidó appointed Carlos Vecchio to serve as Venezuelan chargé d’affaires to the United States. This move was recognized by US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo.
On April 10, 2019, the group Code Pink began occupying the embassy by invitation from the Maduro government. As of May 1, fifty US activists supporting Maduro were occupying the building and the embassy was locked down. Hundreds of supporters of Guaidó assembled in front of the embassy on May 1, to hear an address by Carlos Vecchio. There was a clash between pro-Maduro and pro-Guaidó protesters. Code Pink alleges that the opposition became violent and cut off food to the embassy, claiming that "the police are doing absolutely nothing". The pro-Guaidó protesters were primarily Venezuelan expatriates and the pro-Maduro protesters were American. Pro-Maduro occupants held signs outside the embassy saying, "Hands Off Venezuela!" and "No to U.S. coup plots", while pro-Guaidó protesters chanted "Guaidó" and "Hands off my embassy". On May 8, power was cut to the embassy. On May 11, running water was also cut off by US authorities. On May 16, the four protesters remaining, Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, Adrienne Pine and David Paul, were forcibly removed from the embassy by police. Journalist Max Blumenthal, who has ties with Nicolás Maduro, was also arrested during the incidents at the embassy; the charges later dropped. During the 2019 Foro de Sao Paulo, Maduro honored Code Pink for their actions.
Missing paintings
in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Italian Carabinieri opened an investigation of missing pieces of European and Latin American artwork that disappeared during the exit of Maduro representatives and the occupation of Code Pink. The paintings were exhibited during the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington 2018, including a landscape of Caracas by Manuel Cabré, the portrait of "Juanita" by Armando Reverón, and a social realism piece by. Together, the paintings are estimated to worth about $1 million.
Consular services
Carlos Vecchio declared that Maduro's administration, and his predecessor Hugo Chávez, had denied consular services for Venezuelans in the United States for more than 10 years. Director of Consultar Affairs, Brian Fincheltub, announced that the embassy would progressively reactivate said services. On 28 May, Vecchio announced the creation of the Unique Consular Registry, which allows Venezuelan citizens in the United States to access to its services network. Gustavo Marcano, Counselor Minister of the embassy, explained that in the first phase of the Consular Registry an official census of Venezuelan residents would be carried out, to determined in which states and cites they are distributed in to inform about their current situation and the consular needs to the embassy. Marcano would later state that 70% of the citizens in the Registry expressed that their main necessity was the passport extension. Juan Guaidó announced the extension of the validity of expired Venezuelan passports for five years since their expiration date. On 7 June 2017, the United States State Deparment announced the recognition of this extension for the emission of visas and other consular processes; the Deparment also announced that the United States Border Patrol would also accept these passports. In a press conference, Vecchio explained that Venezuelans would be able to enter the United States with expired passports, request visas or use them as a valid identification document for procedures such as the driver's license. In 2020, the embassy of Venezuela announced that starting from 19 February, Venezuelan residents would be able to request No Objection Letters for permanence requests for studies or work, a process would be carried out by Guaidó's diplomatic mission and the US State Department. The director of Consultar Affairs, Brian Fincheltub, announced that the embassy would activate the process and emission of said documents, without costs. The document allows foreigners in the United States to extend their stay period originally authorized in the visa.
