Venezuelan opposition members say they’re under ‘siege’ as they take refuge in an embassy
By Stefano Pozzebon, CNN
(CNN) — The residence of the Argentine ambassador in Caracas, Venezuela, is mostly silent these days. Rather than diplomatic chatter or Christmas carols at this time of the year, the only noise is that of a small diesel power generator the residents turn on twice a day to charge their phones.
The rest of the time, the mansion sits almost still, the occupants busy with their own solitary tasks, like an oversized prison with few inmates.
There are no diplomats inside the compound – the Venezuelan government kicked out the ambassador shortly after President Nicolas Maduro proclaimed himself the winner of July’s contested presidential election and Buenos Aires cried foul.
Instead, five political asylum seekers – all members of the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s team – have been sheltering here for more than nine months. Now, they say, they are under “siege” by Venezuelan security forces.
“The pressure from the government has been escalating in the last few weeks. Psychological torture, we are under constant surveillance, and nobody can visit us without authorization … the spiritual damage we are subject to is tremendous,” one of them, Omar Gonzalez, told a virtual press conference earlier this month.
Following July’s election, the opposition campaign released tens of thousands of voting receipts that they said showed their candidate, Edmundo González, had won the contest. Independent observers and electoral experts told CNN that the receipts appear authentic and have questioned the electoral authority’s decision to announce Maduro as the winner.
Edmundo González has since fled the country and is now living in exile in Spain, while Maduro is preparing to begin a new presidential term on January 10. González has publicly pledged to return to Venezuela in January to inaugurate his own government, although it’s unclear how he could enter the country without facing prosecution himself.
In March, six opposition members were accused of terrorist activities and treason for working with Machado, who went into hiding shortly after the election for her own safety. While Maduro’s government has at times denied that the diplomatic residence is under a blockade, it has also said the group will end up behind bars before long.
Machado’s team says they have done nothing wrong, but they have no doubt they would be arrested if they were to leave the building.
“It’s important to point out that there are six civilians, political activists that the only crime they committed is fighting for a free Venezuela, and we are threatened and in isolation, every day it gets worse,” Omar Gonzalez said.
One of the six, Fernando Martínez Mottola, left the embassy on Thursday, sources told CNN. It is unclear under what terms Martínez – who had also been housed in the embassy since March – left the building.
A day later, Martínez went to the Attorney General’s office “voluntarily” to provide statements related to the accusations he faces and has agreed to “collaborate actively” with authorities, says a statement from the country’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab.
CNN has reached out to Venezuelan authorities to comment on Martinez’s current legal situation.
Under watch and running out of water
The group’s decision to speak to the media on the record was prompted by the tightening of the security measures imposed on the residence, which has been under the diplomatic custody of Brazil since the Argentine diplomats were expelled.
The green and gold Brazilian flag now flies above the residence, but there are no officials to keep the guests company. Venezuelan security forces have set up a series of checkpoints on the street outside to control who enters and leaves the building, but have not entered the residence itself.
Pressure is growing on their hideaway. On November 26, Venezuela’s state-run power company cut off their electricity. The security forces have also taken control of the surrounding buildings, and last week the Organization of American States’ Secretary General Luis Almagro posted a photo of someone appearing to spy on the building from a tree nearby – with a sniper’s rifle in their hands.
Drones routinely fly overhead and Venezuelan police units have threatened to break in several times, mostly at dawn, according to Gonzalez and the rest of the group, who are calling on other countries to intercede.
Argentina granted all six asylum in March, but the five who remain in the building have no means of getting there without risking arrest along the way.
CNN has reached out to Venezuelan authorities to inquire if Martínez will be allowed to leave Venezuela.
Under international law, citizens granted political asylum by other countries should be allowed to leave their home country unharmed if they are under diplomatic custody.
CNN has contacted Venezuela’s Ministry of Information and power company for comment.
In a series of one-on-one interviews with CNN, the besieged opposition members painted a dire picture of their lives now.
Omar González, 74, has been married to his wife for 53 years. She is now living abroad, and this is the first time the couple will spend Christmas apart, he said.
“Power is our biggest issue: it’s not like we can go out to charge our phones, or go to the toilet… we are isolated,” said Magalli Meda, 56, Machado’s campaign manager.
Water is supplied by a small tank, the group said, but can only be pumped across the house with the power plant: when the plant is off, there’s no running water either.
Meda, a designer by trade, tries to shake off the tension by painting. “I like to paint wild horses, or birds flying away, open cages… everything I feel: sometimes I paint the pain of being locked up. This embassy has become a prison,” she said.
Her latest paintings, shared with CNN, are mostly of animals – a pig on its way to the slaughterhouse, a small fish in a bowl looking upward, with the word “horizon” written underneath.
Coping with isolation
On June 28, the 100th day of their confinement in the residence – back when they still had access to water and power – Pedro Urruchurtu published a short video diary on his Instagram account showing him running in the front yard and reading: at that time, diplomatic personnel were allowed to go in and out the residence, providing the group with books and other items from friends and families.
Urruchurtu, 34, Machado’s adviser on international relations, told CNN he still runs 8,000 steps every day to keep his focus but that the tension and stress of continuous isolation have taken a toll – a feeling all six shared.
“Each of us has a different coping mechanism, but mostly alone: it’s not like we’re here eating together and happy all the time… it’s tough,” said Claudia Macero, 32, Machado’s spokesperson.
Macero, Meda and Urruchurtu still try to work as regularly as possible for Venezuela’s opposition movement, which often means speaking with the relatives and friends of political activists held in the country’s notorious prisons. In the immediate aftermath of the election, security forces detained thousands of opposition activists, many of whom worked on the Machado campaign. Many remain behind bars.
The group tries to maintain optimism – and avoids speculating over how long they can hold out with the little fuel and food that remains.
When they entered the residence in March, none of the six believed they would still be here by Christmas. “It’s as if time halted,” said Urruchurtu, who in October celebrated his birthday with a video call to his family.
“Keeping a habit is very important… dividing work time and leisure, as we all learned during the pandemic lockdown. Under siege and with no power, everything basically runs out when the power generator does,” he told CNN.
Meda is more sanguine, sharing her disappointment toward international institutions that, she believes, should do more to help but “end up being so slow and inefficient.”
Last week, the Associated Press reported that a senior adviser to the International Criminal Court resigned over the prosecutor’s inability to go after Maduro, who has been under investigation for crimes against humanity since 2021 but maintains a tight grip over his country.
At night, the group goes to bed early. Sunset in Caracas is at 6 pm and, with the power cut off, the only light is provided by candles and battery torches.
Macero admits she often finds it hard to fall or stay asleep.
“Sometimes I wake up and I don’t even remember what day of the week it is, because they are all the same,” Macero added. “Then work starts and we are constantly working… it’s more like sheltering in your office without power and water,” she quipped.
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