Military police surrounded Venezuela's embassy in Brazil Wednesday as rival supporters of opposition leader Juan Guaido and President Nicolas Maduro faced off inside in a struggle for control of the diplomatic compound.
The embassy drama unfolded as President Jair Bolsonaro met nearby at the foreign ministry with China's President Xi Jinping ahead of a summit of the BRICS countries.
It was not immediately clear which side was in control of the embassy. A Brazilian foreign ministry representative was inside the compound in an attempt to end the stand-off.
Guaido's appointed ambassador Teresa Belandria said in a statement that staff members at the embassy "voluntarily" opened its doors early Wednesday to officials working for her.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the embassy, many of them supporters of Brazil's left-wing Workers Party, yelling "Viva Maduro," "Drug dealer Guaido" and "Free Lula," the Brazilian leftist icon released from jail on Friday.
The last Maduro-appointed ambassador to Brazil was withdrawn in 2016.
In her statement, Belandria asked that all accredited officials at the embassy and Venezuela's seven consulates in Brazil recognize Guaido as the legitimate president.
More than 50 countries, including Brazil, recognized the Venezuelan opposition leader as acting president earlier this year after rejecting Maduro's re-election as fraudulent.
BRICS titans China and Russia, however, back Maduro.
"Upon entering the headquarters, we could verify that a group of officials was living in the official residence," said Belandria, who is not inside the embassy.
Freddy Menegotti, a senior embassy official loyal to Maduro, said "strangers to our facilities are entering and are violating the Venezuelan territory," according to a voice recording sent to the PT and shared with AFP.
"We need help, we need the immediate activation of all social movements and political parties," Menegotti said.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza condemned what he described as an invasion of the embassy.
"We hold the Government of Brazil responsible for the safety of our staff and facilities," Arreaza tweeted.
"It is a delicate situation," said Paulo Pimenta, a member of PT, in a voice recording sent to AFP via WhatsApp. Pimenta said he was among 10 Brazilians to enter the embassy in the morning.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, one of the president's sons and a member of Congress, tweeted: "The left has gone to the door of the Venezuelan embassy in Brazil, (what) I want to see is for them to go to Venezuela to live as ordinary Venezuelan citizens."
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