Fourth American arrested in connection with plan against Maduro
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello reported on Tuesday that Authorities arrested a fourth American linked to an alleged plan to assassinate Nicolás Maduro.
Amid the crisis that arose following his re-election on July 28, which the opposition denounces as a fraud and which the United States, the European Union and Latin American countries do not recognize, the Venezuelan government announced on Saturday the arrest of three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech linked to an alleged plan to “destabilize” the country.
“Another American citizen was captured,” Cabello said in an appearance before Parliament. “We had been following him, He was captured here in Caracas taking photos of electrical installations, to oil facilities, to military units.”
“Rest assured that this gentleman is part of the plan against Venezuela, the plan against our country,” Cabello continued.
#17Sep #SessionAN #Government
Diosdado Cabello announces the capture of a fourth US citizen in Venezuela.“He was captured here in Caracas, taking photos of electrical installations, oil installations, military units” – @AlbertoRodNews pic.twitter.com/jDhSRap9bS
— Reporte Ya (@ReporteYa) September 17, 2024
Cabello says the plan was to “assassinate Maduro”
He said that “another batch of weapons was captured” that add up to some 400 rifles that were shown as seized on Saturday.
“The plan: to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro, (Vice President) Delcy Rodríguez, and myself,” the minister insisted.
The government also linked them to their countries’ intelligence agencies, which The United States and Spain denied it.
Madrid has also demanded information on the whereabouts of the detainees, whose charges or place of detention are unknown.
“They are asking where their people are, what evil we are doing to their people, we respect human rights and are being held in a safe place by the Venezuelan authorities,” Cabello said.
This is not the first time that foreigners have been arrested in Venezuela on charges of conspiracy.
Americans Luke Denman and Airan Berry were sentenced to 20 years in prison for the so-called Operation Gedeón, a plan denounced in 2020 by the ruling Chavistas to invade the country by sea and overthrow Maduro, which ended with eight “mercenaries” dead.
They were released in December and handed over to their country in the prisoner exchange that led to the release of the Colombian Alex Saaba government contractor accused of being a “front man” for Maduro. The leader of that operation, retired Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, was arrested last July in New York, accused of arms trafficking.
Independent journalism needs the support of its readers to continue and ensure that uncomfortable news that they don’t want you to read remains within your reach. Today, with your support, we will continue working hard for censorship-free journalism!