CARACAS, Venezuela, May 8, (AP): Venezuela’s government on Wednesday acknowledged for the first time that members of the country’s opposition left the Argentine diplomatic compound where they had sheltered for over a year, but it denied that their arrival to the United States occurred under an international rescue operation as characterized by the political faction and the US State Department.

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said the group’s movements were negotiated with the government and further alleged that one of the six people who entered the Argentine ambassador’s residence in March left the compound in August, contradicting earlier statements from the opposition. Cabello’s statements came roughly 24 hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on social media that the opposition members were on US soil after a "successful rescue.”

The government of Argentine President Javier Milei allowed the six people into the ambassador’s residence when authorities loyal to Venezuela’s ruling party issued warrants for their arrest, accusing them of promoting acts of violence to destabilize the country. The group included the campaign manager and communications director of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado as well as Fernando Martinez, a cabinet minister in the 1990s.

Martinez abandoned the compound in mid-December and, according to Venezuelan authorities, appeared before prosecutors. He died in February. After Rubio’s announcement Tuesday, Machado thanked people involved in what she called an "impeccable and epic operation for the Freedom of five heroes of Venezuela.” But Cabello alleged that only four people remained at the embassy after Martinez’s departure.

Since late November, the group had denounced the constant presence of intelligence service agents and police outside the residence. It had also accused the government of President Nicolás Maduro of cutting electricity and water services to the compound. The government denied the allegations. "They put on their show, and in the end, they ended up negotiating,” Cabello said Wednesday during his weekly show on state television.