Venezuelan Embassy in Washington reaches quiet calm after protesters' ouster
WASHINGTON - After weeks of round-the-clock protests, police patrols and sometimes violent clashes, the Washington street on which the Venezuelan Embassy sits has returned to a quiet order. The protesters have gone. So, too, have banners that hung from the embassy's red-brick facade for more than a month, declaring "stop the coup." Police cars that dotted the Georgetown street have vanished. Activists on both sides of the showdown between supporters of President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido say their influence among diplomats and American lawmakers has increased markedly since their high-profile clash. Members of the Venezuelan diaspora established an organization to carry on the activism started in the street, and Code Pink organizers say demonstrators are joining their cause, inspired by what they saw. Even the building, now in the hands of Guaido's handpicked ambassador, Carlos Vecchio, was transformed. Vecchio said Friday that the structure suffered "a lot" of physical damage during the demonstrations. The building also became a symbol - and a trophy - in the international tug of war over Venezuela's political future. "Obviously, controlling the embassy in Washington is not the same thing as controlling the streets of Caracas," said Allen Weiner, director of Stanford University's program on international and comparative law. "But it's symbolically important." Code Pink and its supporters moved quietly into the building in early April. At the time, few seemed to notice, or care, said co-founder Medea Benjamin, except the few Maduro-appointed diplomats working inside. By day, demonstrators went about their routines under the watchful gaze of portraits of South American revolutionary Simon Bolivar. By night, they hosted events and guest speakers...
