File of opposition activist who has fled Venezuela

Leopoldo Lopez, one of Venezuela's most prominent opposition activists, has abandoned the Spanish ambassador's residence in Caracas and is leaving the country.

Two sources with a knowedge of the situation said the politician was crossing into Colombia and would likely to fly to the capital Bogota in the following hours.

The 49-year-old former Caracas-area mayor took residence in the ambassador's house after a failed military uprising against the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

In 2015, he was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prision, convicted of inciting violence during anti-government protests, but was put under house arrest after more than three years in the military jail of Ramo Verde.

The charges, branded as a sham by human rights groups, came after Lopez pursued a strategy in 2014 known as "The Exit," consisting of street protests, months after Maduro was elected.

The strategy failed and divided the opposition.

Lililian Tintori, Lopez's wife, became an outspoken critic of the Maduro administration, repeatedly demanding Lopez be released.