The United States has rejected Venezuela’s allegations that the CIA orchestrated a plot to assassinate President Maduro and other high-ranking officials.
According to Venezuela’s Interior Minister, three U.S. citizens, two Spaniards, and one Czech national have been arrested on suspicion of attempting to destabilize the country.
Diosdado Cabello, who referred to the detainees as “mercenaries,” claimed that the CIA was leading the operation and reported that hundreds of weapons had been confiscated.
The U.S. dismissed these claims as “categorically false,” coming on the heels of Washington imposing sanctions on 16 senior Venezuelan officials.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed that a U.S. military member was being held and mentioned “unconfirmed reports of two additional U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela.”
Cabello asserted that the detainees had contacted “French mercenaries” from Eastern Europe and were involved in an operation to attack Venezuela.
He also claimed that “more than 400 rifles were seized” and accused the detainees of planning “terrorist acts.”
The Venezuelan government alleged that the detained Spaniards were associated with Spain’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI).
However, Spanish government sources have stated that the pair do not belong to the intelligence organization.
“Spain denies and categorically rejects any insinuation that it is involved in a political destabilisation operation in Venezuela,” a source told AFP.
The Czech Republic has yet to react the claims.
In a news conference on Saturday Cabello said: “The CIA is leading this operation, and that does not surprise us but they, the National Intelligence Centre of Spain, have always maintained a low profile knowing that the CIA operates in this area.
“These two detainees even tell us about a group of mercenaries they are looking for to bring to Venezuela with very clear objectives to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, myself, and another group of comrades who are leading our party and our revolution.”
The allegations come amid a feud between the Maduro government and both the US and Spain stemming from Maduro’s disputed victory in July’s election.
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), which is closely aligned with the government, declared Maduro the victor of the election, though it has not released detailed vote counts.
Opposition data suggests that their candidate, Edmundo González, was actually the winner.
On Thursday, Washington announced sanctions targeting “key officials involved in Maduro’s fraudulent and illegitimate claims of victory and his brutal crackdown on free expression following the election.”
Following the detentions, a State Department official stated that Washington “continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela.”
On Friday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil summoned the Spanish ambassador in Caracas after Spain’s Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, labeled the Venezuelan government a “dictatorship.”
Gil condemned the remarks as “insolent, meddling, and rude” and warned of a “deterioration of relations between the two countries.”
This development came shortly after González arrived in Spain seeking political asylum, a move that María Corina Machado, the leader of Venezuela’s opposition, described as necessary to “preserve his freedom, his integrity, and his life.”
Spanish authorities have requested further information about the detentions from Venezuela, and the Spanish embassy has sought access to the detainees.