Venezuela denies that opposition members left country under international rescue operation
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said the group's movements were negotiated with the government and further alleged that one of the six people who entered the Argentine ambassador's residence in March left the compound in August, contradicting earlier statements from the opposition.
Cabello's statements came more than 24 hours after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on social media that the opposition members were on U.S. soil after a 'successful rescue.'
The government of Argentine President Javier Milei allowed the six people into the ambassador's residence when authorities loyal to Venezuela's ruling party issued warrants for their arrest, accusing them of promoting acts of violence to destabilize the country. The group included the campaign manager and communications director of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado as well as Fernando Martinez, a cabinet minister in the 1990s.
Martinez abandoned the compound in mid-December and, according to Venezuelan authorities, appeared before prosecutors. He died in February.
After Rubio's announcement Tuesday, Machado thanked people involved in what she called an 'impeccable and epic operation for the Freedom of five heroes of Venezuela.' But Cabello alleged that only four people remained at the embassy after Martinez's departure.
Since late November, the group had denounced the constant presence of intelligence service agents and police outside the residence. It had also accused the government of cutting electricity and water services to the compound. The government had denied the allegations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Android Authority
an hour ago
- Android Authority
Google Street View captured this man naked at home, and now he's $12,500 richer
C. Scott Brown / Android Authority TL;DR A man was captured naked in his yard by a Google Street View camera. Appeals court judges ruled that the company 'flagrantly violated' the man's dignity. Google now has to pay the man around $12,500. Street View is a Google Maps feature that offers a 360-degree view of any area at street level. This feature can come in handy when you want to virtually explore neighborhoods, landmarks, and more. These 360-degree views are stitched together from the numerous photos taken by the company's specially-equipped vehicles. As these vehicles snap photos at various times of the day, sometimes these cameras capture some things they shouldn't. That's exactly what happened to a man from Argentina who just got a big payday from the tech giant. As reported by CBS News, one of Google's Street View cameras captured an Argentine police officer naked at his home while walking around in his garden. In addition to capturing the naked man in his yard, the cameras also captured his house number and street name. After the images were splashed up online and shared on social media, the man sought compensation from Google in 2017, arguing that the firm harmed his dignity and that he was behind 6.5-foot-high walls. Last year, a court dismissed the man's claims, suggesting that he only had himself to blame for 'walking around in inappropriate conditions in the garden of his home.' However, the man went to an appeals court and managed to get the ruling overturned. According to the outlet, appeals court judges have now ruled in the man's favor, finding that Google had 'flagrantly violated' his dignity. With this ruling, Google now has to pay the man the equivalent of around $12,500 in Argentine pesos. 'This involves an image of a person that was not captured in a public space but within the confines of their home, behind a fence taller than the average-sized person,' the judges wrote. 'The invasion of privacy … is blatant.' Helping to seal the deal, the judges pointed to Google's policy of blurring faces and license plates as evidence that the company is aware of its duty to prevent harm. Although Google is now forced to pay up, the other two accused entities in this case — telecoms company Cablevision SA and news site El Censor — were absolved. The court found that although their actions helped the image spread, it also served to 'highlight the misstep committed by Google.' On a help document for Google's Street Views, the company notes that users can submit a report for an image to be censored. The option allows you to request for Google to blur imagery of your home. Follow
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Peru's Boluarte Pledges to Stay the Course Until Next Vote
Peru's President Dina Boluarte pledged to keep her nation's market-friendly economic policies in place and to tackle growing crime en route to a handover of power next year in her final state of the nation speech. Work with the other powers of the state 'allowed us to come out on top in the most difficult moments, a unity that keeps us firm and in the future will let us continue to build a fairer, more equitable and more developed country,' Boluarte said Monday, hinting that she aims to remain active in politics and denying graft allegations against close family.
Gizmodo
4 hours ago
- Gizmodo
Man Awarded $12,500 After Google Street View Photographed His Ass
What does involuntary public embarrassment get you? Somewhere in the vicinity of $12,500. An Argentinian man who had his whole bare ass captured by a Google Street View camera and published to Google Maps was awarded that modest sum by an Argentine court for having his privacy violated and his dignity damaged. The man, a police officer, was naked in his yard in 2017 when a Google Street View car came driving by. Even though he was behind a six-and-a-half-foot-tall fence, the camera caught him, quite literally, with his pants down. Google typically blurs faces when they appear on camera, but butts apparently can make it through the censors, and the man had his ass plastered on the internet, and it was easily identifiable along with his street name and home address. According to CBS News, the man claimed that he was humiliated by the situation, subjected to ridicule from his coworkers and neighbors, all because Google's cameras could peep over his wall that kept his nudity private from prying eyes at normal human heights. Google, per the report, argued that his wall was not high enough, which is technically true in the sense that it literally did not prevent him from being photographed—though one could reasonably assume the wall was not installed with car-mounted, 360-degree cameras in mind. The man's first attempt to get compensation was rejected by a court, which said he had no claim to damages and no one to blame but himself for 'walking around in inappropriate conditions in the garden of his home.' Which, you know, that's not an entirely wrong conclusion. But an appeals court saw it his way, recognizing that his privacy was violated by the photo. 'This involves an image of a person that was not captured in a public space but within the confines of their home, behind a fence taller than the average-sized person,' the court said, calling the invasion of privacy 'blatant' and the whole situation an 'arbitrary intrusion into another's life.' The court pointed out that Google has a practice of blurring faces and license plates on phones taken by its Street View cameras, so it clearly understands the potential harm that could occur if it published a photo of someone without permission. So it does seem a little weird to not blur the fully naked guy. 'No one wants to appear exposed to the world as the day they were born,' the judges wrote. For his troubles, the man was awarded the $12.5k in damages from Google—which is significantly more than the $1 it paid to a Pittsburgh-area couple who accused the company of trespassing by taking photos of their private road, but less than the $13 million settlement it paid in a class-action case accusing it of collecting personal information as part of its Street View project.
