Three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech national have been detained in Venezuela on suspicion of plotting to destroy the country through “violent acts,” the government said Saturday, adding that hundreds of weapons had been seized.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said the five were suspected of plotting an attack on President Nicolas Maduro and his government. The arrest comes amid tensions between Venezuela and the US and Spain The disputed July 28 presidential election in Venezuela, which the country’s opposition accused Maduro of stealing.
Maduro, a former bus driver who succeeded left-wing leader Hugo Chavez when he died in 2013, insisted he had won a third term but failed to release detailed vote tallies to support his claim.
“We know that the United States government has something to do with this operation,” Cabello said. He said the two Spaniards were recently detained in Puerto Ayacucho in the southwest.
He added that three Americans and a Czech citizen were also arrested and linked the plot to the intelligence agencies of the United States and Spain as well as the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Maria Corina Machado.
American Navy Sailor detained in Venezuela last week while visiting the country on a private trip, several US officials confirmed to CBS News. The enlisted sailor is a petty officer first class and a former Navy SEAL assigned to the West Coast team, several U.S. officials and senior Defense Department officials told CBS News. It was unclear if the sailor was one of the three Americans confirmed to have been detained on Saturday.
“They contacted French mercenaries, they contacted mercenaries from Eastern Europe and were in an operation to try to attack our country,” he said.
He added that “more than 400 guns were confiscated” and accused the detainees of planning “terrorist acts.”
The United States, Spain and the Czech Republic have yet to react to the sensational statement, which comes amid a standoff between Maduro and Western powers. The plane belongs to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro captured by the US and brought to Florida, the Department of Justice said, admitting the jet was exported from Florida in violation of US sanctions.
Tensions between Caracas and the former Spanish colony have risen sharply after Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, went into exile in Spain a week agoafter being threatened with arrest.
Earlier this week Caracas recalled its ambassador to Madrid for consultations and summoned Spain’s envoy to Venezuela for talks after Spanish ministers accused Maduro of running a “dictatorship”. Venezuela was also angered by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s decision to meet with Gonzalez Urrutia and warned Spain not to “interfere” in its affairs.
Caracas has also engaged in a war of words with the United States, which recognized Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of the election. Washington on Thursday announced new sanctions against 16 Venezuelan officials, including some of the electoral authorities, for impeding the “transparent electoral process” and not publishing accurate results.
Venezuela dismissed the move as a “crime of aggression” and Maduro decorated four military officers among those targeted for sanctions. Maduro’s claim to a third term in office sparked mass opposition protests, which left at least 27 dead and 192 injured.
The opposition published the results of the polling station level, which was shown Gonzalez Urrutia won by a landslide. About 2,400 people, including many teenagers, were arrested in the riots. After Venezuela’s last election, in 2018, Maduro also claimed victory amid widespread allegations of fraud. With the support of the military and other institutions, they were able to hold on to power despite international sanctions.
Maduro’s rule since 2013 has caused GDP to drop by 80 percent in ten years, forcing more than seven million of the country’s 30 million citizens to emigrate.
Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.
