Venezuela: On 23 May US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with five Venezuelan opposition figures who fled the Argentine embassy in Caracas last month, where they had sheltered since March 2024 to avoid arrest under President Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian government. The five were Magalli Meda, Pedro Urruchurtu, Omar González, Humberto Villalobos, and Claudia Macero who had all been granted diplomatic asylum by Argentina. According to a US State Department press release, Rubio “commended these leaders for their bravery in the face of Maduro’s relentless repression and tyranny. He expressed his gratitude to all involved in this operation and recognised the tenacity of [de-facto opposition leader] Maria Corina Machado who remains in Venezuela”. The same statement cites Rubio as expressing concern following “the unjustified and arbitrary arrest” of another leading opposition figure, Juan Pablo Guanipa, earlier that day and over 70 other individuals amid what Rubio describes as “a new wave of repression from the Maduro regime”. He also reaffirmed Washington’s “support for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela and the release of all political prisoners, as well as the safe return of arbitrarily detained Americans and other foreign nationals in Venezuela.”
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