Five Venezuelan opposition members taking refuge in the Argentine embassy in Caracas to avoid arrest say it has become a “prison”.
The residence has been without power for more than a month, Magalli Meda, adviser to opposition leader María Corina Machado, said on X.
“It’s a violation of our human rights. It’s become an embassy prison,” she wrote.
The Venezuelan government claims the power cut came after the residence did not pay the electricity bill.
The opposition members have been holed up in the residence since warrants were issued for their arrest in March.
In July, Venezuela held contested presidential elections in which both president Nicolás Maduro and the opposition candidate Edmundo González claimed victory. The opposition has presented detailed vote counts in its favour, while Maduro has not.
González has since fled to Spain, while Machado, who was barred from running in the July election, is also believed to have fled Venezuela.
Argentina and Peru backed the opposition’s election win, causing diplomatic friction with the Maduro government. Brazil has since taken over operations of both countries’ embassies in Venezuela.
Meda said: “No ambassador has come to this embassy. Not one. Have they tried? Surely some would have wanted to.”
Venezuela and Argentina are in a diplomatic feud over the detention of an Argentine security officer in Venezuela earlier this month.
The Argentine government claims the man travelled to visit family there, while the Maduro administration has accused him of forming part of a rightwing terrorist plot against the government.
