The Venezuelan embassy in the United States has ceased operation as the interim government led by the opposition leader was dissolved.

"We inform the Venezuelan community in the United States, and the public in general, that the Venezuelan Embassy in the United States and all its officials formally ceased functions on Thursday, January 5, 2023," the statement read on Friday, Sputnik reported. 

Guaido associates seized control of the embassy in 2019 after the opposition-controlled National Assembly rejected the 2018 presidential election results and established an "interim government" led by Guaido. The United States then recognized Guaido as interim president.

The statement expressed deep regret about the decision's possible impact on Venezuelan citizens in the United States.

“In the coming days, we will present due accountability,” the statement said.

“We thank all the support provided by the representatives of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the US, as well as the local authorities and officials, for all the support given to the noble and just cause for the restitution of freedom and democracy for the Venezuelan people.”

On Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the government is prepared to advance the process of normalizing political and diplomatic relations with the United States.

Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations with the United States in 2019 after the latter recognized Guaido as the country's interim president instead of the reelected Maduro.

The United States imposed comprehensive sanctions on Caracas, especially targeting the country's oil and financial industries as well as freezing its reserves.

At the height of tensions between Washington and Caracas in 2019, dozens of protesters occupied the Venezuelan embassy for weeks in an attempt to prevent the Guaido camp from taking possession of the building.

The occupation was carried out with the support of the democratically-elected government of Venezuela. At the time, the US sought to place Carlos Vecchio, the ambassador appointed by Guaido, as the building's new envoy.

Contacts between Venezuela and the US resumed to some extent in March 2022, when President Joe Biden sent a delegation to Caracas to negotiate with the Maduro government on the issue of oil supplies amid the energy crisis amplified by Western sanctions against Russia.

On Friday, the Venezuelan opposition supported, in a second hearing, the elimination of the self-proclaimed "interim government" that Guaido had led since 2019.