AFP – Three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen have been detained in Venezuela on suspicion of plotting to destabilise the country, the government said, as the United States (US) and Spain denied Caracas’s allegations they were involved.
The arrests come amid heightened tensions between Venezuela and both the US and Spain over Venezuela’s disputed July 28 presidential election, which the country’s opposition accuses President Nicolas Maduro of stealing.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on Saturday the foreign nationals were being held on suspicion of planning an attack on Maduro and his government.
“We know that the United States government has links to this operation,” Cabello asserted.
Cabello said two Spaniards were recently detained in Puerto Ayacucho in the southwest.
He added that three Americans and a Czech national were also arrested and linked the alleged plot to intelligence agencies in the US and Spain, as well as to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. Maduro has heaped blame for the tide of adversity his country faces on the “imperialist” United States, which he accuses of conspiring with his Venezuelan opponents to overthrow him.
A State Department spokesperson said Saturday that “any claims of US involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false”.
The State Department spokesperson additionally confirmed that a US military member was being held and noted “unconfirmed reports of two additional US citizens detained in Venezuela”.
Spain also rejected allegations it was involved.
“Spain denies and categorically rejects any insinuation that it is involved in a political destabilization operation in Venezuela,” a foreign ministry source told AFP Sunday.
Cabello said those detained had “contacted French mercenaries, they contacted mercenaries from Eastern Europe and they are in an operation to try to attack our country.”
