Venezuelan Opposition Leaders Flee to U.S. After 412 Days in Hiding

Five higher Venezuelan opposition figures that had been protecting for 412 days in the Argentine diplomatic residence in the capital, Caracas, have abandoned the country and are now in the United States, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“The United States welcomes the successful rescue of all hostages held by the Maduro regime,” Rubio wrote on X on Tuesday. He added that the “Venezuelan heroes” were now in the United States “after a precise operation.”

The announcement occurs when Venezuela has tried to placate the Trump administration, which has threatened to re -evaluate paralyzing oil sanctions. A license that allowed Chevron to operate within the country expires at the end of May and an extension of the United States government could help the Venezuelan economy.

Under its autocratic president, Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan government has gone through periods of intense repression followed by concessions limited to the opposition, made when the authorities are in popularization. The main opposition leader, María Corina Machado, who was forbidden to run in last year’s elections, continues to hide.

The departure of the opposition activists occurred only one week before the regional elections, in which Mr. Maduro tries to project an air of democratic normality.

But approximately 900 political prisoners remain detained within the country, according to the Criminal Forum Surveillance Group, and Mr. Maduro is accused or stealing a presidential election that took place last year.

It is likely that the effort of the Trump administration to get Venezuela activists frustrate the families of Americans detained within Venezuela. In the last year, Maduro’s government has arrested multiple foreigners to use them as negotiation negotiation chips.

In January, the Trump administrator assured the freedom of six Americans who were imprisoned in the South American country, but at least 10 Americans remain in Custody in Venezuela, according to the defenders of men.

The activists who fled from Venezuela, Pedro Urucortu, Magalli Meda, Humberto Villalobos, Claudia Macero and Omar González, did not respond to the requests for comments.

The five together with an advisor for a coalition of opposition parties, Fernando Martínz Mottola, sought asylum of Argentina in March 2024 after the Venezuelan Attorney General announced war orders for his trial.

Mr. Martínez left the residence to surrender to the Venezuelan authorities in December 2024. He died two months later.

It was from the 41000 square feet complex, located between the diplomatic residences of Russia and North Korea, that the five activists, the main assistants of Mrs. Machado, made one of the most consistent presidential campaigns in the history of the country.

Despite the limitations of his Liberio, the five officials not only managed to organize an impulse of the voters that millions of the polls brought last July, but also mobilized thousands of monitors to collect count leaves that had the Couly sheets.

His efforts helped lead the United States to recognize the opposition candidate, Edmundo González, as the winner of the presidential race. Many other countries have also refused to recognize the claim or victory of Mr. Maduro.

Then, on the night of the elections, they saw how Mr. Maduro declared victory, but did not provide any evidence to support his victory. The reds collected by the electoral monitors showed that, in fact, Mr. González won, and in a kicking.

Days after the vote, Mr. Maduro ordered the Argentine diplomats to leave the country, and Brazil assumed the responsibility of the embassy.

The protesters resulted in large quantities after the elections, but the brutal reaction of the government has made most Venezuelans fear or speak. Mr. González, the opposition candidate, fled to Spain in September.

Mrs. Machado, who has an hidden leg from the elections, celebrated the freedom of her best aid in an X.

“My infinite recognition and gratitude to all who made it possible,” he said.

In interviews last year, opposition leaders described living in a state of constant anxiety.

From the July elections, the Venezuelan authorities have appeared periodic outside the diplomatic residence in vests and facial masks resistant to bullets, sometimes reducing access to electricity, water and food, but then restoration.

Mr. González, 75, one of the five activists, described the fear made by one of those incidents in August.

“I wasn’t going to get caught. I was going to make it possible for not falling into his hands. He was going to try to flee as far as he could,” he said at that time. “I’m ready to go at any time.”