Caracas, Venezuela (DT/REUTERS) — Venezuela has detained three United States citizens, two Spaniards and a Czech national over an alleged plot to destabilise the South American nation, a senior government official said.
Venezuelan Minister of Interior Diosdado Cabello said on Saturday that the six were held on suspicion of planning an attack against President Nicolas Maduro and his government.
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A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said “a U.S. military member” had been detained in Venezuela and that it was aware of unconfirmed reports of two additional U.S. citizens being detained there, but rejected a Venezuelan claim of U.S. involvement in any plot to overthrow the government.
Spanish media reported that Spain’s government denied this claim.
The arrests come as tensions have skyrocketed in recent weeks between Venezuela and the US, Spain and other Western nations over a disputed Venezuelan election held in late July.
Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, was declared the winner of the vote, but the country’s opposition has said the contest was marred by fraud and that its candidate had defeated the longtime president.
The election results spurred massive opposition protests, leaving more than two dozen people dead and nearly 200 injured.
Cabello also accused three U.S. citizens and a Czech national of involvement in terrorist activities, including alleged plans to assassinate President Maduro and other officials. “These groups aim to seize the country’s wealth, and we will respond decisively to any attempts at destabilization,” Cabello said. He also mentioned that approximately 400 rifles, traced back to the United States, had been seized.
In response, the State Department stated that the U.S. was not involved in any efforts to remove Venezuela’s leftist President Nicolas Maduro.
“The Spanish embassy has sent a verbal note to the Venezuelan government asking for access to the detained citizens in order to verify their identities and their nationality and in order to know what they are accused of exactly,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Spanish nationals were detained while taking photographs in the town of Puerto Ayacucho, Cabello said.
“These citizens have links – we know they will say no, that it is a lie – they have links with the center,” Cabello said, referring to Spain’s intelligence arm.
“Spain will decide what to do, if it is going to keep meddling in Venezuela’s affairs.”
Venezuela recalled its ambassador to Spain this week for consultations and summoned the Spanish ambassador to appear at the foreign ministry after a Spanish minister accused Maduro of running a “dictatorship,” escalating diplomatic tensions following a disputed presidential election.
Venezuela was also angered by the decision of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to meet with Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who went into exile in Spain last week after being threatened with arrest by Maduro’s regime.
Caracas also has had fresh tensions with the United States, which recognized opposition candidate Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of the July 28 election.