The United States has rejected Venezuela’s claims that the CIA hatched a plot to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro and other high-ranking officials.
Three US citizens, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were arrested on suspicion of plotting to destabilize the country, Venezuela’s interior minister said.
Calling the detainees “mercenaries”, Diosdado Cabello claimed that the CIA was “running the operation” and that hundreds of weapons had been seized, reports the BBC.
The US has assessed these claims, which come after Washington placed 16 high-ranking government officials under sanctions, as “categorically false”. A State Department spokesman said a member of the U.S. military was in custody and noted “unconfirmed reports of two more U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela.”
Cabello responded by saying the detainees had made contact with “French mercenaries” from Eastern Europe and were involved in an “attempted attack operation” against Venezuela. He accused them of preparing “terrorist acts”.
The Venezuelan government said the arrested Spaniards were linked to Madrid’s National Intelligence Center (CNI).
Spanish government sources told local media that the two do not belong to the intelligence organization.
“Spain denies and categorically rejects any insinuations that it is involved in a political destabilization operation in Venezuela,” the source told AFP.
The Czech Republic has yet to react to the claims from Venezuela.
At a press conference on Saturday, Cabello said the CIA is leading this operation and “it doesn’t surprise us.”
“These two detainees are even telling us about a group of mercenaries that they want to bring to Venezuela with very clear goals to kill President Nicolas Maduro, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, me and another group of comrades who lead our party and our revolution,” Cabello said.
The accusations come amid a spat between Maduro’s government and the US and Spain following Maduro’s disputed election victory in July.
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), which has close ties to the government, declared Maduro the winner of the election but did not release detailed results of the vote. Data published by the opposition show that its candidate, Edmundo González, was the real winner.
On Thursday, Washington announced sanctions targeting “key officials implicated in Maduro’s false and illegitimate claims of victory and his brutal post-election suppression of freedom of expression.”
After the arrest, a State Department official said Washington “remains supportive of a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela.”
