Three U.S. citizens, two Spaniards and a Czech national have been arrested in Venezuela on charges of allegedly plotting to destabilize the country. Interior Minister Diosdato Cabello issued a statement on state media accusing the group of terrorism and saying they had traveled to the country to kill dictator Nicolás Maduro and government officials in collusion with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Intelligence Center (CNI) in Madrid. Venezuelan authorities say they have seized hundreds of rifles.
The US State Department confirmed the detention of a US service member but denied any US involvement. The US government said it was aware of “unconfirmed reports of two additional US citizens being detained in Venezuela”.
“Any allegations of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.
The arrests come just over two days after the United States sanctioned 16 Venezuelan public officials. On the same day, a group of 49 countries, plus the European Union (EU), signed a joint declaration at the United Nations calling for the “restoration of democratic norms in Venezuela.” The Spanish parliament has recognized opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzales as the true elected candidate. The former opposition candidate who presented evidence of having defeated Maduro at the polls recently went into exile in Spain after his arrest was ordered in Venezuela.
The pressure on Venezuela comes amid Maduro’s fraudulent victory at the polls. In July, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) declared the dictator “re-elected.” However, in addition to being a government-controlled body, the council has yet to provide details of the vote count, a fact that has been contested by several countries, including Spain and the United States.
According to Spanish newspaper El Pais, Madrid has also denied allegations that the arrested suspects have links to one of its intelligence agencies. According to the publication, sources at the Spanish Foreign Ministry said they had requested information about the detainees to “verify their identities and nationality and to find out exactly what they are accused of.”
The alleged plot was announced on national television by Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. The claim is that the foreigners’ trip to Venezuela was part of a plot led by the CIA and the National Intelligence Center (CNI) in Madrid to overthrow the government, according to the BBC. The operation also seized 400 U.S. assault rifles, Cabello said.
The Caracas government said some of those arrested had confessed that they intended to bring mercenaries into the country to carry out the alleged assassination plot. In addition to Maduro, the alleged targets were Cabello himself, Vice President Delcy Rodrigues and a number of “other comrades.”
In 2020, two former US military personnel were also arrested in another alleged attempt to kill Maduro. At the time, the so-called Gedeón operation planned to infiltrate 60 fighters into Venezuelan territory to seize the airport and kidnap Maduro. A then-advisor to opposition leader Juan Guaidó said he had contacted an American security company to facilitate the plan.
The politician reportedly gave up on the operation, but members of the team linked to the American company decided to continue with the plan independently.
#Venezuela #points #CIA #plot #kill #Maduro #denies
