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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
There are no diplomats inside the compound \u2013 the Venezuelan government kicked out the ambassador shortly after President Nicolas Maduro proclaimed himself the winner of July\u2019s contested presidential election and Buenos Aires cried foul. <\/p>\n
Instead, five political asylum seekers \u2013 all members of the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado\u2019s team \u2013 have been sheltering here for more than nine months. Now, they say, they are under \u201csiege\u201d by Venezuelan security forces. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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 \u2026 the spiritual damage we are subject to is tremendous,\u201d one of them, Omar Gonzalez, told a virtual press conference earlier this month. <\/p>\n
Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez 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. Gonz\u00e1lez has publicly pledged to return to Venezuela in January to inaugurate his own government, although it\u2019s unclear how he could enter the country without facing prosecution himself. <\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
Machado\u2019s team says they have done nothing wrong, but they have no doubt they would be arrested if they were to leave the building. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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,\u201d Omar Gonzalez said. <\/p>\n
A day later, Mart\u00ednez went to the Attorney General\u2019s office \u201cvoluntarily\u201d to provide statements related to the accusations he faces and has agreed to \u201ccollaborate actively\u201d with authorities, says a statement from the country\u2019s Attorney General Tarek William Saab. <\/p>\n
The group\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Pressure is growing on their hideaway. On November 26, Venezuela\u2019s 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\u2019 Secretary General Luis Almagro posted a photo of someone appearing to spy on the building from a tree nearby \u2013 with a sniper\u2019s rifle in their hands. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Omar Gonz\u00e1lez, 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. <\/p>\n
\u201cPower is our biggest issue: it\u2019s not like we can go out to charge our phones, or go to the toilet\u2026 we are isolated,\u201d said Magalli Meda, 56, Machado\u2019s campaign manager. <\/p>\n
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\u2019s no running water either. <\/p>\n
Meda, a designer by trade, tries to shake off the tension by painting. \u201cI like to paint wild horses, or birds flying away, open cages\u2026 everything I feel: sometimes I paint the pain of being locked up. This embassy has become a prison,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n