Aborted coup attempt and plot to assassinate Venezuelan President Maduro
Venezuelan Minister of Communications and Information Jorge Rodriguez has announced a plan to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro and the coup against Venezuelan authorities.
“We’ve videos showing the transfer of arms and money to carry out the coup”, Rodriguez told a televised news conference.
Minister Rodriguez pointed out that the conspirators wanted to seize the arms depots and the military airport and then attack the prison to release former defense minister Raul Baduel, who was sentenced in 2009 to long prison terms in a corruption case and his inauguration as president of Venezuela.
Rodriguez noted that opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro hired foreign mercenaries to kill the current head of state.
“I have recruited three armed groups, Sucre, Lander and Ulysses”, he said.
The task of the first group was the arrest and physical liquidation of President Maduro.
Rodríguez confirmed that Maduro’s opponents hired “Israeli, American and Colombian terrorists” for this purpose.
He stressed that the plan also included the killing of the President of the Constitutional Assembly Diosdado Capello, the head of the Venezuelan intelligence Gustavo González López, as well as the kidnapping of Interior Minister Nestor Riverol and the seizure of the presidential palace in Miraflores.
From his part, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guido dismissed allegations linking him to the coup attempt.
Guido said in a press statement that the opposition continues to call on the Venezuelan army to remove President Maduro from power, but has nothing to do with any coup attempts in the country.
On Wednesday, the government announced it was thwarted by a coup attempt involving the assassination of President Nicolas Maduro, in which military service officers and retired veterans participated.
The government accused the United States, Chile and Colombia of supporting the plan to replace Maduro with a former defense minister.
Venezuela has been under growing tension since January 23, after President Juan Guido’s claim that he would hold the presidency temporarily until new elections are held.
President Donald Trump quickly recognized Guido as the transitional president of Venezuela, followed by Canada, Latin America and Europe.
In contrast, countries including Russia, Turkey, Mexico and Bolivia supported the legitimacy of current President Nicolas Maduro, who on January 10 was sworn in as president for a new six-year term.
Maduro announced that he had cut off diplomatic relations with the United States and accused her of plotting a coup against him.
The failed coup attempt comes in an apparent attempt to draw attention again to Venezuela, after a period of disappearance of the Venezuelan file from the media, especially after the recent escalation against Iran.
