Reports Claim Heavily-Armed Forces Descended on Venezuelan Ambassador's DC Residence, Reasons Unclear

Reports are emerging indicating that the Venezuelan Ambassador's residence in Washington D.C. may have been raided Thursday evening by the FBI and United States Secret Service officers. However, other outlets are saying that the response was due to a trespasser.

As of this writing, no official sources have commented, so RedState can neither confirm nor deny the details, but clearly something is going on:

FBI and United States Secret Service officers have raided the Venezuelan Ambassador's Residence in Washington, DC on February 15, 2024. Heavy police activity could be seen in the area and FBI agents had raid jackets on as well as long guns. At approximately 8:50 PM, agents yelled… pic.twitter.com/jgvIgoRggU
— Kyle Mazza (@KyleMazzaWUNF) February 16, 2024

Mazza wrote:

FBI and United States Secret Service officers have raided the Venezuelan Ambassador's Residence in Washington, DC on February 15, 2024. Heavy police activity could be seen in the area and FBI agents had raid jackets on as well as long guns. At approximately 8:50 PM, agents yelled "surrender" after calling out that they were on site and "police".

Back in February 2023, the State Department took custody of the residence:

The State Department took custody of Venezuela's embassy and official residences in Washington and New York after Juan Guaidó was voted out as interim president and the country was left without diplomats recognized by the US, people familiar with the matter said.

The embassy had ceased operations in January 2023.

The action comes after President Nicolás Maduro’s government expelled the U.N. Human Rights Agency Thursday.

A United Nations agency that monitors and defends human rights was ordered on Thursday to leave Venezuela by the government of President Nicolás Maduro, an extraordinary move that will further strip the country of foreign oversight at a time when its government stands accused of intensifying repression…
Mr. Gil [Yván Gil, Venezuela’s foreign minister] said he was giving the staff of the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 72 hours to “abandon” the country.

⚡️ Venezuela Foreign Minister:

"Venezuela announces its decision to suspend the activities of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Venezuela... personnel assigned to this office must leave the country in the next 72 hours until they publicly rectify in… pic.twitter.com/1puQXp0nJB
— COMBATE |🇵🇷 (@upholdreality) February 15, 2024

As I mentioned, there are conflicting reports about the nature of the law enforcement presence. According to ABC's Washington, D.C. affiliate, there wasn't a raid at all – it was just a simple case of trespassing:

U.S. Secret Service agents are investigating a possible trespassing incident at the Venezuelan Ambassador's home in D.C. Thursday night, officials said.

According to officials, agents began investigating the incident after an alarm call around 5:30 p.m.

“At this time there is no known public safety risk to the community,” officials said.

Another source said that "other Venezuelan buildings" near the residence are being searched.

Police sent in K-9s from the MPD to the Venezuelan Ambassador's residence after an alarm was triggered for a possible trespasser. Police continue to search other Venezuelan buildings, including the military attache's office across the street. pic.twitter.com/LDGYcsxg5T
— Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) February 16, 2024

Yet another angle to consider in this drama is the issue of missing paintings -- could those have anything to do with what's going down? You can be sure Maduro doesn't want to lose the priceless artwork:

United States Department of the Treasury in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Italian Carabinieri opened an investigation into missing pieces of European and Latin American artwork that could not be found when Guaidó's representative moved into the embassy in May 2019, believing they were being discreetly plundered by Venezuelan authorities. The paintings, including a landscape of Caracas by Manuel Cabré, the portrait of "Juanita" by Armando Reverón, and a social realism piece by Héctor Poleo [es], were exhibited at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington in 2008. The estimated value of the paintings was $1 million. The last known sighting of the paintings was in a photo taken in the Venezuelan embassy in 2012.

It’s unclear exactly what took place Thursday evening and what may still be unfolding in Washington, D.C. However, it’s evident that some action went down, and we will likely know more by Friday.

RedState will keep you updated on events as they unfold.

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