US to Withdraw All Its Embassy Staff in Venezuela as the Country Continues to Plunge into Crisis

The US will be removing all remaining staff from its embassy in Venezuela as the country grapples with power outages and a deteriorating political situation.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Monday the move was in response to Venezuela’s increasingly dire economic situation and maintaining an embassy in the country was in conflict with US policy.

Pompeo said the diplomats will be removed by the end of the week.

In January, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro ordered US diplomats to leave but then retracted the call.

Venezuela is currently struggling to restore power after a crippling five-day blackout which plunged even critical infrastructure like hospitals into darkness. Most regions, including the capital Caracas, were thrust into darkness on Thursday at around 5 p.m. local time.

Maduro blamed the United States and the opposition for starting what he called an “electricity war,” claiming that the US purposely sabotaged the country’s main power plant without evidence.

The country, which still struggles with a shortage of food and medicine, has been plunged into despair.

Venezuela has also been locked in a dramatic political crisis, which has seen countries around the world disavow its president and back the upstart politician Juan Guaid in his bid to depose him.

The US has led calls to unseat Maduro and replace him with opposition leader Guaid. Guaid left Venezuela on February 22 to meet with with world leaders who have pledged their support for him, including US Vice President Mike Pence and the presidents of Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Ecuador.

In late January, Guaid declared himself interim president of Venezuela amid nationwide protests against Maduro and his ruling Socialist party. In response, Maduro prohibited Guaido from leaving the country and froze his assets, claiming that the politician was trying to usurp power . Guaid faced threats of up to 30 years in prison for returning to Venezuela on March 4, and has since called for new rounds of protest.

 

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