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,

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.

The five officials ran one of the most consequential presidential campaigns in the country’s history while sheltering at the Argentine diplomatic residence.