After almost six and a half years abroad, Armando Armas flew home to Venezuela this week. The first thing Armas did was sit down at a family table.

Armando, 44, is a lawyer trained at the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello. He ran Voluntad Popular, the opposition party whose leaders were jailed or exiled almost to a person in Anzoategui. On July 5, 2017, pro-government thugs, known as colectivos, besieged the legislature for hours during a session marking Independence Day. Armas was left with wounds to his head and his left eye, and one of several parliamentary deputies was carried out to the hospital. He went into exile as the persecution widened.