CARACAS (Reuters) – The Argentine diplomatic residence in Caracas, where five members of the Venezuelan opposition are staying to avoid arrest, has become a “prison,” one opposition member staying there said on Saturday.
The residence has been without power for more than a month, Magalli Meda, adviser to opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, said on X.
“It’s a violation of our human rights. It’s become an embassy prison,” she wrote.
The Venezuelan government claims the power cut came after the residence did not pay the electricity bill.
The opposition members have been holed up in the residence since warrants were issued for their arrest in March.
In July, Venezuela held contested presidential elections in which both President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez claimed victory. The opposition has presented detailed vote counts in its favor, while Maduro has not.
Gonzalez has since fled to Spain, while Machado, who was barred from running in the July election, is in hiding.
Argentina and Peru backed the opposition’s election win, causing diplomatic friction with the Maduro government. Brazil has since taken over operations of both countries’ embassies in Venezuela.
“No ambassador has come to this embassy. Not one. Have they tried? Surely some would have wanted to,” Meda said.
Venezuela and Argentina are currently in a diplomatic feud over the detention of an Argentine security officer in Venezuela earlier this month.
The Argentine government claims that the man traveled to visit family there, while the Maduro administration has accused him of forming part of a right-wing terrorist plot against the government.
(Report by Deisy Buitrago; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Leslie Adler)
