Havana. Bruno Rodriguez, Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs condemned the occupation of Venezuela’s embassy in Washington, which he described as shameful and illegal.

The illegal entry and occupation of the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington is a brutal violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Shameful. #USA tramples on international legality in its aggressive escalation against #OurAmerica, the diplomat said on Twitter.

Through this digital space, this Thursday the Minister expressed that Cuba ratifies its willingness to contribute with initiatives that promote respectful dialogue with the government of Venezuela on the basis of the sovereign equality of States, the principles of International Law and the postulates of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.

With the authorization of the authorities of the South American country, a group of activists from Code Pink and other U.S. civil organizations entered the Venezuelan embassy last April to protect it, but the State Department considered this occupation illegal by assuring that the dependencies belong to the Guaidó government.

Embassy defenders claim they were invited by officials of the legitimate Venezuelan government, and the police do not have the right to forcibly remove them from the place.

Monday night, officials from the Washington Metropolitan Police illegally broke in and caused material damage to the facilities where the Venezuelan embassy was located before bilateral relations were broken last January.

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations establishes that, in the event of the rupture of diplomatic relations between two countries, or at the end of a mission on a permanent or temporary basis, the receiving State will be obliged to respect and protect, even in the event of armed conflict, the mission’s premises, assets and archives.

(Source: ACN)