2024-09-17 07:15:57
According to government sources, six foreigners have been arrested in Venezuela. They were said to have been involved in a plot against the government.
Police in Venezuela have arrested six foreign nationals from the USA and Europe for alleged plans to “destabilize” the country. A total of three US citizens, two Spaniards and a Czech were taken into custody, the government in Caracas announced on Saturday. The arrested people had planned “acts of violence” against President Nicolás Maduro and his government, said Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello at a press conference. More than 400 rifles were confiscated.
“We know that the US government has something to do with this action,” said the minister, without providing any evidence. There are links to the US and Spanish intelligence services, as well as to the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. “They have contacted French mercenaries, they have contacted mercenaries from Eastern Europe, and they are on a mission to attack our country,” said Cabello. The six arrested are in the process of making confessions. No information was given about the identities of the people.
The governments of the USA, Spain and the Czech Republic did not initially react to the allegations. Relations between Venezuela and the USA and Spain have deteriorated since the Venezuelan presidential election. The left-wing politician Maduro, who has ruled the country in an authoritarian manner since 2013, was declared the winner of the July 28 election by the Venezuelan authorities, despite international criticism and accusations of fraud by the opposition. A few days ago, the USA imposed sanctions on high-ranking officials in Venezuela due to allegations of electoral fraud.
The Venezuelan opposition candidate in the presidential election, Edmundo González Urrutia, fled to Spain a week ago. Relations between the two countries deteriorated further after Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles described Venezuela as a “dictatorship” a few days ago.
While the USA has recognised opposition candidate Gonzáles Urrutia as the winner of the election, Spain and other EU states have so far limited themselves to not recognising Maduro as the winner. They are demanding that the Venezuelan authorities publish the full election results.