Maduro, who said he supports the decision by the Supreme Court to move Lopez from prison and place him under house arrest instead, said during a nationally televised address that he hopes the move would provide the basis for reconciliation "because the nation wants peace".
A euphoric Lopez briefly greeted a few dozen supporters gathered outside his home in Caracas in the afternoon. Lopez's mother Antonieta arrived, beaming and dressed in white.
"This is a step in the march toward freedom", Lopez said in a statement read by close ally and lawmaker Freddy Guevara.
The country's supreme court confirmed the move Saturday, citing "irregularities" in his case and "information received about" Lopez's health, the Miami Herald reported.
Lopez, leader of the Voluntad Popular (Popular Will) party and a symbol of resistance to the Maduro government, emerged hours after his release from prison looking fit and happy.
The case has always been a cause celebre for opposition supporters over what they deem the Maduro government's trampling of human rights. Some government supporters expressed dismay over his release. He was arrested, tried, condemned and sent to prison that same year.
"We spoke for like 40 minutes". He's hugging his children, he's with his wife. He said in recent days Lopez had been isolated in his prison cell without food and attributed his son's transfer to worldwide pressure on Maduro's government. The new measure - house arrest - coincides with three months of intense protests against the regime of Nicolas Maduro in which 89 people have died.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was the first to break the news of Lopez's transfer, which was brokered by his predecessor, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Maduro partisans said the decision in no way exonerates Lopez or the opposition from attempts to destabilize the government.
Saudi, allies threaten more measures against Qatar
Qatar was ready to "cooperate and review all claims that do not contradict the sovereignty of the State of Qatar", it added. Egypt along with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have accused Qatar of harboring Islamic extremism.
Lopez's father, who shares his son's name, said from exile in Spain that his son's transfer was the result of global pressure on Maduro.
"While Leopoldo Lopez was released from prison, reports indicate he is still on house arrest", Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart said. The judge in the case was later sanctioned by the Obama administration.
"It is a gesture of weakness of the Maduro regime and of the opposition's strength", Cremades said.
It's been more than 90 days since the protests in Venezuela began and they show no signs of stopping.
But in his brief appearance before supporters Lopez exhibited a muscular physique honed from exercise in jail.
The opposition has long called Lopez a political prisoner, and leaders around the world, including U.S. President Donald Trump, have pressed for his release. "There are more prisoners", tweeted U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who has been on the vanguard of Venezuela issues in the U.S. House of Representatives.
On Wednesday, pro-government militants wielding sticks and pipes stormed the grounds of the opposition-held National Assembly and beat lawmakers, injuring at least five at the only state institution that the opposition nominally controls.
On that occasion, Lopez called on Venezuelans to continue protesting in the streets.
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