Five Venezuelan opposition figures who have been holed up in Argentina’s embassy in Caracas for more than a year are now in the US after a “rescue” operation, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.
“The US welcomes the successful rescue of all hostages held by the [Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro regime at the Argentinian Embassy in Caracas,” Rubio wrote on X.
“Following a precise operation, all hostages are now safely on US soil,” he added, without giving specific details about the operation.
Photo: AP
The five people, close allies of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, have been living in the embassy since March last year, after Venezuela’s attorney general accused them of conspiracy and warrants were issued for their arrests.
The Venezuelan Ministry of Communication and Information did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Machado hailed an “impeccable and epic operation” in a post on X.
“We are going to free every one of our 900 imprisoned heroes,” Machado added in reference to different politicians and activists who have been detained in the past year.
In December last year, Fernando Martinez, another opposition adviser who had been living at the embassy, handed himself in to the attorney general’s office. He died in February.
Officials regularly accuse the opposition of conspiring with countries such as the US to commit terrorism, overthrow Maduro and attack Venezuela’s power grid. The opposition has always denied the accusations.
The Argentine residence is under Brazilian custody after Buenos Aires cut relations with Caracas over last year’s election, which the opposition said it won and for which it has published ballot box level vote tallies.
Maduro was declared the winner by electoral authorities and the country’s top court, although authorities have not offered ballot box level tallies of the votes.
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