What changes will there be without an interim government in Venezuela?
4:27
(CNN) --
The Venezuelan opposition's diplomatic outpost in Washington has suspended its operations, it announced in a press release Friday, a week after Juan Guaidó was ousted as opposition leader.
"We inform the Venezuelan community in the United States, and the general public, that the Venezuelan Embassy in the United States and all its officials formally ceased their functions on Thursday, January 5, 2023," says the press release from the embassy of fact.
"We deeply regret the impact that this decision may cause our Venezuelan citizens in the United States," he says.
All officials who worked at the opposition embassy, as well as their mission to the Organization of American States, will remain in the US, a source close to the embassy told CNN, noting that they cannot return to Venezuela for fear to the persecution of the Maduro regime.
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“Ambassador Vecchio will continue his fight from abroad and it is expected that in the next few days he will send a message to Venezuelans,” the person said.
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CNN has contacted the State Department about the suspension of operations.
Lawmakers in Venezuela who were also members of the opposition voted last Friday to end the "interim government" headed by Guaidó, and instead appoint a Delegate Commission that will oversee the protection of some of Venezuela's economic assets held by countries foreign.
Guaidó had served as the US-recognized country's leader since January 2019, when he declared himself interim president.
Carlos Vecchio on January 6, 2020 in Washington.
Credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
This recognition of Guaidó meant a total break with the government of Nicolás Maduro, and the United States has not had a diplomatic presence in that country since March 2019.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement this week that the United States "continues to recognize the National Assembly democratically elected in 2015 as the last remaining democratic institution in Venezuela, and we welcome the agreement reached to extend its authority." .
That statement made no mention of Guaidó.
The press release from the embassy of the Venezuelan opposition in the US assured that the "cessation of functions was decided by the majority of deputies of the National Assembly Elected in 2015 that approved a Reform to the Statute Law that governs the Transition and, unconstitutionally, eliminated the Presidency in Charge "headed by President Juan Guaidó, the Interim Government and the Foreign Service, including the Venezuelan Embassy in the United States, headed by Ambassador Carlos Vecchio, recognized since 2019 by the US administration."