Sen. John Hoeven says Venezuela has released four missionaries from North Dakota whom it detained several days ago.

Hoeven says in a news release that his office learned from pastor Bruce Dick of the Bethel Evangelical Free Church in Devils Lake that Venezuelan authorities had released the church missionaries earlier Saturday. Dick didn't travel with the group.

The four were apparently detained Wednesday while working in conjunction with a church west of the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. The group had been in the South American country for several days providing medical assistance.

Hoeven's spokesman, Don Canton, says Dick told his office the group was leaving for Aruba.

Venezuela's president recently accused the U.S. of backing a coup plot that his government thwarted. The U.S. strongly denies the claim.