Five Venezuelan opposition members have been “rescued” from the Argentine embassy in Caracas and brought to US soil, more than a year after taking refuge from President Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian government, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Wednesday.

The group of aides to opposition leader María Corina Machado fled to the embassy in March last year after warrants were issued for their arrest during a fierce crackdown on dissent. They included director of communications Claudia Macero and Magalli Meda, one of Machado’s chief advisers.

“The US welcomes the successful rescue of all hostages held by the Maduro regime at the Argentinian Embassy in Caracas,” Rubio wrote in a post on X on Tuesday night. “Following a precise operation, all hostages are now safely on US soil.”