Nicolás Maduro, President of the Republic of Venezuela (Credit: Wikipedia Commons)

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

The U.S. called on the Venezuelan government Wednesday to guarantee the safety of six political opposition members sheltered in Argentina’s embassy in Caracas. The U.S. accused the government of President Nichalos Maduro of engaging in a campaign of harassment against the six individuals who have been sheltering for months. They fled to the embassy to escape a crackdown by Venezuelan authorities in the run-up to July’s presidential elections which Maduro claimed he won but remains widely disputed. The opposition members have accused the government of dispatching local police and intelligence agents outside the embassy. The US and several Latin American states refused to recognize Maduro as the winner of the July election. The U.S. has recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez as the country’s rightful president-elect.

“The United States condemns in the strongest terms the continued refusal by Nicolás Maduro and his representatives to grant safe passage to the individuals sheltered inside the Embassy of the Republic of Argentina, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. “The continued harassment endangers the safety of the mission and individuals who may be seeking temporary refuge. We call for Maduro and his representatives to stop issuing politically motivated arrest warrants for members of the democratic opposition and to guarantee safe conduct for those sheltered in the Argentine Embassy.”