U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Tuesday that the five Venezuelan dissidents trapped in the shut down Argentine embassy in Caracas for 14 months were rescued in a “precise operation” and are now on U.S. soil.
“The U.S. welcomes the successful rescue of all hostages held by the Maduro regime at the Argentinian Embassy in Caracas,” Rubio said. “Following a precise operation, all hostages are now safely on U.S. soil. Maduro’s illegitimate regime has undermined Venezuela’s institutions, violated human rights, and endangered our regional security.”
“We extend our gratitude to all personnel involved in this operation and to our partners who assisted in securing the safe liberation of these Venezuelan heroes,” the secretary of state added.
Although Sec. Rubio did not disclose details of the rescue operation, “unobjectionable sources” confirmed to the Argentine outlet Infobae that “it was a military operation commanded from the United States.” Neither socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro — who was just arriving in Russia at the time of Rubio’s announcement — nor any regime member or Venezuelan propaganda outlet has publicly commented on the matter at press time.
The five Venezuelan dissidents — Pedro Urruchurtu, Magallí Meda, Claudia Macero, Humberto Villalobos, and Ómar González — are close associates of María Corina Machado, who leads Venezuela’s only mainstream center-right party, Vente Venezuela. The now-rescued five dissidents sought shelter in the Argentine embassy in March 2024 after Venezuelan authorities issued arrest warrants and remained there up until the unspecified rescue operation.
A sixth dissident, 70-year-old Fernando Martínez Mottola, was also part of the group sheltered in the embassy, but voluntarily turned himself in to Venezuelan authorities in December. Martínez Mottola died from a stroke in February.
The group was among those targeted by the “Bolivarian Fury,” a violent dissident crackdown campaign Maduro launched in 2024. Maduro justified the crackdown by claiming that those targeted were involved in dubious and unproven assassination plots against him and other members of his authoritarian regime.
Maduro launched the crackdown campaign shortly after receiving a generous oil and gas sanctions relief package from former U.S. President Joe Biden in exchange for vague promises that he would take actions leading to the holding of a “free and fair election.”
No such free election took place in Venezuela. Instead, Maduro held a fraudulent “election” on July 28, 2024, proclaimed himself the “winner” while refusing to show any kind of documentation corroborating the claimed results, and launched an even more brutal dissident crackdown campaign. The opposition candidate in the sham election, 75-year-old diplomat Edmundo González, fled to Spain in September while Machado, who was banned from running, remains in hiding facing threats of arrest.
The Maduro regime repeatedly refused to grant safe passage to the dissidents, forcing them to remain inside the embassy for 14 months. The regime kept the embassy itself in a constant state of siege, cutting its access to running water and power, stealing the building’s fuse box, and constantly harassing the dissidents, among other actions.
After Maduro cut ties with Argentina and several other countries that refused to acknowledge his “victory” in the sham July 2024 election, Brazil agreed to take custody of the Argentine embassy and the sheltered dissidents in August. A month later, the Maduro regime revoked Brazil’s custody permission. Brazil responded to Venezuela at the time that it would nevertheless continue to protect the Argentine embassy and the Venezuelan dissidents until the government of President Javier Milei designated another country “acceptable” to the Venezuelan regime.
President Milei welcomed the unspecified rescue operation and the dissidents’ transfer to the United States in a statement on Tuesday expressing gratitude to those involved — especially thanking Rubio for his “personal commitment” to the operation, “which has made it possible for these true heroes to finally regain their freedom.”
“In addition, the National Government [of Argentina] deeply appreciates the efforts made to ensure the safety and well-being of those who for a long time were under Argentine protection from persecution by the regime of Nicolás Maduro,” the statement read. “This action represents an important step in defense of freedom in the region.”
“Likewise, we will continue to work hard in cooperation with our allies to achieve the release of the Argentine gendarme Nahuel Gallo, illegally kidnapped by the Venezuelan dictatorship. His freedom is a priority for this government and we will not stop until it is achieved,” the statement concluded.
María Corina Machado also celebrated the rescue of the five Venezuelan dissidents, describing the operation as “impeccable and epic” through social media.
“An impeccable and epic operation for the freedom of five heroes of Venezuela. My infinite recognition and gratitude to all those who made it possible,” Machado said. “We will free each of our 900 heroes imprisoned by this tyranny and 30 million Venezuelans! And with Freedom, will come irreversible change to a Venezuela of Prosperity, Justice, and Peace!”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
