The recent arrests bring to 91 the number of people detained in what Venezuela said was a botched incursion.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaking during a televised message, at Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas on May 14, 2020, amid the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic. (Photo: AFP)
Venezuela announced on Thursday that its troops had captured 39 army deserters on the Colombian border, saying they were part of a recently derailed plot to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro.
In a televised speech, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said, “We have captured 39 deserters trying to enter by the Colombian border”.
Padrino further added that those arrested were “part of the general scheme” to overthrow Maduro, linking them to a failed sea-borne raid two weeks ago that Caracas said was backed by the United States and Colombia.
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Thursday’s arrests bring to 91 the number of people detained in what Venezuela said was a botched incursion.
On Wednesday, the raid — which Maduro alleged had been planned in the White House — saw men landing in early May at Macuto, less than an hour from Caracas.
Eight attackers were reportedly killed in the incident.
Earlier in the month, Maduro said that authorities have arrested two US citizens among a group of “mercenaries”, following an attempted maritime invasion.
In a televised address, Maduro said that two Americans, Airan Berry, 41, and Luke Denman, 34, were employees of a Florida-based security company called Silvercorp, whose owner has claimed responsibility for the invasion attempt.
The arrests came a day after the government said it foiled an “invasion” from the sea, killing eight assailants and capturing two others.
The left-wing Maduro government claims the plan was to remove him from power and allow opposition leader Juan Guaido — recognized as the interim president by the United States and 50 other nations — to take control.
The United States — one of more than 50 countries backing Guaido as Venezuela’s acting president as he challenges Maduro for power — has slapped sanctions on PDVSA and allowed Guaido to use funds from frozen accounts belonging to the firm’s Houston-based subsidiary Citgo.
Earlier, Venezuela claimed a group traveling on speedboats and embarking from Colombia tried to land before dawn in the northern coastal state of La Guaira but were intercepted by the military and special police units.
Colombia denied any involvement, while Maduro claimed that the mission’s aim was to assassinate him.
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