Watchdog questions millions spent each year on shuttered US Embassy in Venezuela

MIAMI AP The U S authorities employs a sizable staff of Venezuelans and spends upward of million annually for upkeep of the shuttered American embassy and other diplomatic properties in Caracas despite having broken relations with President Nicol s Maduro s regime in according to a new watchdog statement The record published on Friday by the State Department s Office of Inspector General criticized U S bureaucrats for failing to conduct a required cost-benefit analysis to determine whether taxpayers should continue to foot the bill for the assurance operations and maintenance of the -acre embassy compound and five residences no longer housing American diplomats The Trump administration has emphasized cost-cutting efforts across the authorities and remade U S foreign protocol including launching a military strike on a boat off the Venezuelan coast that has upended drug busts at sea and ramped up tensions with the adversarial South American establishment The first Trump administration broke ties with Maduro and recognized an opponent as Venezuela s legitimate leader in a failed attempt to force the socialist leader from power As part of the breakdown in relations the State Department in March suspended operations at its embassy in Caracas and evacuated all diplomats fearing a takeover of the hilltop compound US Embassy work that remains in Venezuela A contingent of Venezuelans employed by the State Department was constantly known to have stayed behind to advance U S interests and relations between the two governments although outwardly hostile never ceased thoroughly The size of that mission and an account of their behind-the-scenes work have not been made residents The inspector general record while focused on compliance with U S policies nevertheless provides a rare glimpse into that sensitive work much of it risky given the Maduro administration s record for jailing Americans opponents and sometimes regular Venezuelans accused of conspiring with U S imperialists Relations have further soured over an American buildup of warships in the Caribbean and a strike on a boat that the Trump administration says was piloted by gang members trafficking drugs It s not a bad idea to have minimum baseline operations at the embassy noted Geoff Ramsey a senior analyst on Venezuela at the Atlantic Council in Washington If relations ever get restored it s central that we have a company on the ground that s ready to move the relationship forward But if we re spending millions of dollars just to maintain a meager empty buildings with no end in sight I think it s fair to raise questions about the price tag Watchdog criticizes parts of remote Venezuela mission The -page analysis was based on an inspection this year of the so-called Venezuela Affairs Unit which is run out of a narrow former training room called the submarine at the U S Embassy in neighboring Colombia The office was initially staffed with U S diplomats as a stopgap way to manage relations with Maduro s cabinet and it was hoped pave the way for his quick replacement by a authorities aligned with the U S Since then the number of employees working at the remote mission has increased to the watchdog disclosed adding that it could find no evidence that the State Department conducted a review to justify the staffing increases The unit was headed until January by career diplomat Francisco Palmieri who also served as the top American diplomat to Colombia at a time when the U S lacked an ambassador to either country The dual role of leading one of the largest U S overseas embassies in Colombia while running a highly peculiar remote mission negatively affected the Venezuela Affairs Unit the record identified It cited the difficulty Palmieri faced reviewing all sensitive diplomatic cables and participating in meetings supporting secret talks with Maduro leaders Much of the unit s work appears to be supported by locally employed staff in Venezuela At least specific of those employees appear to be working from the embassy compound itself according to the description which ascertained instances of unauthorized renovations to two embassy buildings After lowering the U S flag at the embassy the U S reached an agreement with Switzerland to serve as the protecting power of the diplomatic compound The total annual budget to sponsorship the operations in Caracas including pay for local staff stands at million The U S routinely keeps local staff or names a third country as a protecting power to help maintain abandoned governing body properties as it did in Syria when the U S closed its embassy at the start of the civil war in a senior State Department official revealed The inspection which concluded in March praised several initiatives by the Venezuela Affairs Unit including establishing a WhatsApp channel that promoted content reaching individuals monthly However the watchdog also issued seven recommendations for shoring up compliance with State Department policies on issues ranging from management of diplomatic residences and staffing levels to proper use of a van fleet and cloud-based program by staff in Caracas Rules require that U S embassies annually identify any excess properties not being fully utilized or that no longer make economic sense to maintain In Venezuela the U S owns five properties including the ambassador s residence the home of the deputy chief of mission and three apartments