Venezuela's opposition on Wednesday said that the government of President Nicolas Maduro had been surprised by the "international rescue" operation to remove five Venezuelan members of the opposition who had been living in Argentina's diplomatic residence in Caracas.

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,

The politicians, who had been sheltering at the Argentinian embassy in Caracas for over a year to avoid arrest, are now on US soil.