Venezuela's interior minister on Wednesday said the exit of Venezuelan opposition members from Argentina's diplomatic residence in Caracas was negotiated, after the opposition said the operation took the government by surprise.

Five members of Venezuela’s political opposition have left the Argentine diplomatic compound in their country’s capital, Caracas, where they had sheltered for more than a year to avoid arrest and were in the United States on Tuesday,

Five Venezuelan opposition leaders who had been trapped inside the Argentinian Embassy in Caracas have been rescued and are now safely in the United States, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday night.