Caracas (AP) – The Venezuela government recognized Wednesday for the first time that members of the country’s opposition left the Argentine diplomatic enclosure where they had taken refuge for more than a year, but denied that their arrival in the United States has been the result of an international rescue operation, as the political faction and the United States State Department described it.
The Venezuelan Interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, said that the group’s movements were negotiated with the Government and also assured that one of the six people who entered the Argentine ambassador’s residence in March last year left the enclosure in August, contradicting the previous statements of the opposition.
Hair statements occurred more than 24 hours after the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced on social networks that members of the Venezuelan opposition were on American soil after a “successful rescue.”
The government of Argentine President Javier Milei allowed the six people to enter the ambassador’s residence after the authorities loyal to the ruling party of Venezuela issued orders for their arrest, accusing them of promoting acts of violence to destabilize the country. The group included the campaign manager and the communications director of the opposition leader María Corina Machado, as well as Fernando Martínez, a cabinet minister in the 1990s.
Martínez left the complex in mid -December and, according to Venezuelan authorities, appeared before the Prosecutor’s Office. He died in February.
After Tuesday’s announcement, Machado thanked the people involved in what he described as “an impeccable and epic operation for the freedom of five heroes of Venezuela.” Cabello, however, argued that only four people after Martínez remained at the embassy.
Since the end of November, the group had denounced the constant presence of intelligence service agents and police outside the residence. He had also accused the government of cutting the complex electricity and water services. The government had rejected the accusations.
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
