The United States has rejected Venezuela’s claims that the CIA planned to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro and other top officials.
Three US citizens, two Spaniards and a Czech national have been arrested on suspicion of plotting to destabilize the country, Venezuela’s interior minister said.
Calling those arrested “mercenaries,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello claimed the CIA was “running the operation” and that hundreds of weapons had been seized.
The US has dismissed the claims, which follow Washington placing 16 senior Venezuelan government officials under sanctions, as “categorically false”.
A State Department spokesman said one member of the U.S. military was being held and noted “unconfirmed reports of two additional U.S. citizens being held in Venezuela.”
Campello responded by saying those arrested had been in contact with “French mercenaries” from Eastern Europe and were involved in “an operation to try to attack” Venezuela.
He added that “more than 400 rifles were seized” and accused those arrested of planning “terrorist acts”.
The Venezuelan government said the Spaniards detained were linked to Madrid’s National Intelligence Center (CNI).
Spanish government sources told local media that the pair do not belong to the intelligence organization.
“Spain denies and categorically rejects any suggestion that it is involved in a political destabilization operation in Venezuela,” a source told AFP.
The Czech Republic has yet to react to the allegations.
In a press conference on Saturday, Cabello said: “The CIA is leading this operation and that does not surprise us, but they, the National Intelligence Center of Spain, have always kept a low profile knowing that the CIA is operating in this area.
“These two prisoners are even telling us about a group of mercenaries that they are looking to bring to Venezuela with very clear objectives to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, me and another group of comrades who lead our party and our revolution . .”
The claims come amid a row between the Maduro government and both the US and Spain over Maduro’s disputed victory in July’s presidential election.
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), which is closely aligned with the government, declared Maduro the winner of the vote but did not release detailed tallies.
Figures released by the opposition show that its candidate, Edmundo González, was the real winner.
On Thursday, Washington announced sanctions targeting “key officials involved in Maduro’s fraudulent and illegal victory claims and brutal post-election suppression of free expression.”
After the arrests, a State Department official said Washington “continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela.”
On Friday, Venezuela’s foreign minister, Yván Gil, summoned the Spanish ambassador to Caracas after Spain’s defense minister, Margarita Robles, described Venezuela’s government as a “dictatorship . “
Gill said the comments were “insolent, intrusive and rude” and indicated a “deterioration of relations between the two countries”.
It came days after Gonzalez arrived in Spain to seek political asylum, a step Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said he took “to preserve his freedom, his integrity and his life.”
Spanish authorities have requested more information about the arrests from Venezuela, and the Spanish embassy has requested access to the detainees.
Additional reporting by Ruth Comerford and Christy Cooney.
