Venezuelan authorities say they have arrested three US citizens, two Spaniards and one Czech citizen suspected of plotting to destroy the country.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said that hundreds of weapons were also seized, and that those arrested were planning to kill Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other senior officials.
This comes two days after Washington punished 16 Venezuelan officials who are very close to President Maduro, following his election victory.
The Venezuelan government said the arrested Spaniards were linked to the National Intelligence Center (CNI) in Madrid. However, Spanish government sources told local media that the two do not belong to the intelligence community.
At a press conference on Saturday, Cabello said: “The CIA is leading this operation, and that does not surprise us, but they, the National Intelligence Center of Spain, have been keeping a low profile knowing that the CIA is working in this area.
“These two detainees even told us about a group of soldiers they want to bring to Venezuela with the clear intention of killing President Nicolas Maduro, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, me and another group of comrades who lead our party and our revolution. .”
The US has denied the allegations.
“Any claims of US involvement in the plan to overthrow Maduro are completely false,” according to the State Department, which says Washington “continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela”.
This arrest comes between the Maduro Government and the United States and Spain.
Cabello said the Spaniards were detained in Puerto Ayacucho, south of the capital Caracas.
Spanish authorities have asked for more information from Venezuela, with the Spanish embassy requesting access to those detained.
“They contacted the French army, they contacted the eastern European army and they are on a mission to attack our country,” said Cabello, adding that 400 guns were taken in this operation.
On Friday, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Yván Gil summoned the Spanish embassy in Caracas to protest when the minister described the Venezuelan government as a “dictatorship”, after days of tension between the two countries.
On Thursday, the US Treasury Department said it was looking into “key officials involved in Maduro’s fraudulent and illegitimate claims of victory and his brutal crackdown on free speech following the election”.
Maduro was declared the winner of July’s presidential election by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), which is closely aligned with the government.
But the CNE has never published detailed polling statistics supporting Maduro’s victory. Information published by the opposition suggests that instead, Edmundo González, is the winner.
Source link
