Venezuela’s government has acknowledged for the first time that members of the country’s opposition left the Argentine diplomatic compound where they had sheltered for over a year.

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 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.