Venezuelan Opposition Leaders Rescued, Sent to U.S.

Five prominent Venezuelan opposition figures who had been sheltering in the Argentinian Embassy in Caracas for over a year to avoid arrest by President Nicolás Maduro's regime have been safely brought to the United States in a rescue operation described as successful by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The group, which includes close aides to opposition leader María Corina Machado, endured harassment, utility cutoffs, and a siege by security forces while the embassy was under Brazilian protection after Argentina's expulsion. Maduro's government accused the group of conspiring to destabilize the country, but the opposition and international observers consider the charges politically motivated. Specifics of the extraction remain undisclosed, and the Venezuelan government has not commented publicly. Machado praised the operation and underscored ongoing efforts for the release of other political prisoners. The episode underscores heightened international tensions and an intensifying crackdown on dissent around Venezuela's contested 2024 presidential election.