The Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it was concerned about the well-being of six Venezuelan opposition members living in the Argentine embassy in Caracas since March. The asylum seekers have denounced that Venezuelan police and intelligence services have been surrounding the embassy for over two weeks, seemingly to intimidate them, and restricting access to water and electricity. 

“The Argentine Foreign Ministry expresses utmost concern over the alarming and serious situation of the Argentine embassy in Caracas, where the lives of six people under asylum are in imminent danger,” said a communiqué published on Saturday.

The ministry demanded Nicolás Maduro’s government grant them safe passage “immediately” to guarantee their safe departure from the country, a request Argentina has been making since the July 28 elections.

The ministry also called on the United Nations and the Organization of American States to take urgent action regarding this situation.

The six people who have been living in the embassy for the past nine months are part of opposition leader María Corina Machado’s team. Despite winning the opposition primary, she was banned from running in the presidential election. Edmundo González Urrutia ran in her place with her endorsement and claims to be the real winner of the election.

After the election, Venezuela ordered all Argentine diplomats to leave the country in response to President Javier Milei’s accusations that Maduro committed fraud. The Argentine embassy is currently under the protection of Brazil.

The embassy has been surrounded by police since November 23. Pedro Urruchurtu Noselli, one of the opposition members currently holed up there, has been reporting on the situation on social media. According to his posts, what he described as a “siege” has lasted for over two full weeks. He described armed police officers surrounding the building and blocking access to it. According to Urruchurtu, they also used drones to presumably capture images of the embassy, cut electric power, and restrict phone signal and water supply.

Urruchurtu had reported a similar state of “siege” on two prior occasions.

On Wednesday, the Argentine government filed a complaint against its Venezuelan counterpart before the International Criminal Court for the embassy siege and threats against the Venezuelan opposition members inside the compound. All six have requested that Argentina grant them political asylum.