(credit: Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times)    Venezuelan Consulate General in  New York  City  located at 7  E. 51st  Street in Manhattan appears abandoned and in disrepair Oct. 15, 2020

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

NEW YORK  –  Representatives of  Venezuela’s ‘interim president’  Jaun  Guaidó  took control of the Venezuela Consulate General building in New York City last March 2019.  On January 23, 2019 Guaidó declared himself the country’s interim president amid nationwide protests, in a bid to seize power from Maduro. The Trump administration immediately announced it recognized opposition leader  Guaidó as the new interim President of Venezuela.   In addition, Guaidó representatives also took over diplomatic buildings in Washington D.C.  Guaidó’s ambassador to Washington,  Carlos Vecchio, stated at the time he had taken control of three Venezuelan diplomatic properties in the United States.  Vecchio, appointed by self-declared president Guaidó, entered two Venezuelan military buildings in Washington — while advisory minister Gustavo Marcano took control of the consulate in New York City.  

Photo by: Gary Raynaldo /(©Diplomatic Times)    Gustavo Marcano, advisory minister of self-declared Venezuelan president  Guaidó, with bullhorn speaks to supporters outside Consulate General of Venezuela in Manhattan, after showing reporters around the spacious diplomatic property.  Marcano characterized the takeover of the  consulate as a “liberation,” and said it would soon reopen to “all Venezuelans.” March 19, 2019 

Photo by: Gary Raynaldo /  Poster of Hugo Chavez was taken down by supporters of Venezuela opposition and replaced by placard reading: “Soon We Will Open The Doors Of This Consulate To All Venezuelans”  March 19, 2019. 

VENEZUELA New York Consulate Appears Empty And In Disrepair Now

credit: Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times)    Front door of Venezuelan Consulate General in  New York  City  located at 7  E. 51st  Street in Manhattan appears empty, abandoned and in disrepair Oct. 15, 2020

The Consulate General of Venezuela in New York City never came into  full operation after Guaidó’s people took over.  The New York Consulate typically would facilitate appointments for passport/visa services.  Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza  denounced the “forceful and illegal seizure” by Guaidó’s representatives, of the diplomatic compounds saying it was a violation of the guidelines established by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.  It was unclear who gave the keys to the New York consulate to the Guaidó’s supporters that allowed them access last March 2019 to the facility and to assume controlling all operations there.  “How did they get inside the consulate,”? one observer outside the six-story building asked at the time.  “Did they just break in and take over?”  There were reports that the supporters removed the old locks to the front door and  replaced them, assuring that any pro-Maduro consulate crew could not access the building with their keys to the old locks. 

credit: Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times)    Venezuelan Consulate General in  New York  City  located at 7  E. 51st  Street in Manhattan  Oct. 15, 2020. One of the  upper windows appears broken and  is boarded up. The  six-story Manhattan consulate located in a posh neighborhood is  valued at millions of dollars. 

“The number that you dialed is not a working number. Please check the number and dial again please,”  is the recorded message when one dials the two listed phone numbers for the Venezuelan Consulate General in New York.   There is no further information. 

credit: Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times    Venezuelan Consulate General in  New York  City

A neighbor at a nearby building said he had only seen one person come to the Venezuela Consulate approximately two months ago but nobody was working inside and the  the person said he was given the address of the consulate. “It’s been closed for a while. I don’t know if it is because of the COVID situation or something else,” he said. 

credit: Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times)    Venezuelan Consulate General in  New York  City  in Manhattan

Meanwhile,   Venezuela’s Maduro Holds Firmly To Power 

Despite international pressure and attempts to remove him,  Venezuelan  President Nicholas Maduro  has clung to power.  The United States and more than 50 other nations have recognized opposition leader Guaidó, as Venezuela’s rightful head of state, contending Maduro rigged the 2018 election.  The Venezuelan military failed to follow  Guaidó’s calls to mutiny against Maduro and, even with  some defections, continues to provide crucial support to Maduro.  Support for Guaidó dropped in polls from more than 60% in February 2019 to 25.5% in May 2020, according to Caracas-based firm Datanalisis.  In May,  a small invasion force of about 60 exiled Venezuelan soldiers including two American mercenaries landed on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast near Caracas seeking to stage a military coup.  They were quickly captured or killed by Venezuelan troops loyal to Maduro.