Photo credit: BBC
Armed and hooded members of the Venezuelan security forces have surrounded Argentina’s embassy in Caracas, according to the country’s opposition.
CNN reports that six opposition members are currently taking refuge in the embassy. They fled there to escape a crackdown by Venezuelan authorities in the run-up to July’s presidential elections.
Pedro Urruchurtu, who has been in the embassy since March and is the international coordinator for opposition leader Maria Corine Machado, wrote on Saturday that armed, hooded members of the National Police had closed off streets around the embassy. Drones were hovering above the embassy, and phone signals had been cut off, according to him.
Omar Gonzalez, another opposition member living in the embassy, posted a video on social media showing Venezuelan police outside the diplomatic building.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claimed victory in the July election despite widespread skepticism in the country and overseas about the result.
Opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez posted on social media on Saturday that the embassy had been “besieged by hooded people.” Last week, the US recognized Gonzalez as the winner of that election.
Gonzalez said, “I alert the world to what may happen to fellow refugees in the Argentine embassy in Caracas.”
