Two American citizens have been arrested in Venezuela on charges that remain unclear, however Who is President Nicolas Maduro? He claimed on Tuesday that the matter was related to the intention to “practice terrorism.”
Maduro said the “very high-level” Americans who he described as “mercenaries” were part of a group of seven who were arrested, but he did not provide any evidence or details of the arrests.
“Just today we arrested seven foreign mercenaries, including two important mercenaries from the United States,” Maduro said.
President Nicolas Maduro addresses loyalists who gathered to support his re-election one month after the vote, in Caracas, Venezuela, August 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubellos)
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Maduro – who is set to take office again on Friday for a third term despite the widely disputed July election results – said two Colombians and three Ukrainians were also arrested.
He reportedly said that his security forces arrested 125 foreign mercenaries from 25 different countries who he claimed entered the country with the intention of “practicing terrorism against the Venezuelan people.”
A State Department spokesperson flatly rejected Maduro's claims and told Fox News Digital: “Any allegations of U.S. involvement in a plot to oust Maduro are categorically false.”
The spokesman added, “The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela. As Maduro and his associates have shown in the past, they may detain and imprison, without justification or due process, American citizens who enter Venezuela.” .
The identities of the detainees were not revealed due to “privacy and other considerations.”
Although the spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the department is “working to gather more information” and remains “concerned” about Americans detained in Venezuela.
Opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez leads a demonstration against the election results that declared Nicolas Maduro the winner, in Caracas, Venezuela, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Christian Hernandez)
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It remains unclear how many Americans are currently detained in Venezuela after a major prisoner exchange in 2023 when Washington and Caracas convene. Negotiating the release of dozens of prisonersAmong them are 10 Americans, in addition to Colombian businessman Alex Saab, a close ally of Maduro.
His statements coincided with a visit by opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez to the capital Washington strongly supported thisHe has been declared president-elect by several countries, including the United States
On Monday, President Biden reaffirmed the US position on the election results — which courts allied with Maduro declared a victory for the soon-to-be three-term president — and called Gonzalez the “true winner” of the election. July race.
Venezuelan authorities refused to publish ballot box results to support her claims of victory, while Gonzalez's team reportedly published thousands of scanned copies of voting machine results collected by poll observers in the days after the election – which reportedly represented 80% of the votes. The cast that showed the opposition leader winning.
Maduro's accusations of a US-orchestrated coup plot escalated in the weeks following his internationally disputed election, and by September, the Venezuelan leader was issuing claims that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) They planned a coup plot His government said that about 400 rifles were seized and a naval soldier was arrested.
Isaias Medina, a former Venezuelan diplomat to the United Nations, said Maduro's recent arrests and comments “are consistent with his patterns of 'hostage diplomacy.'”
Government loyalists carry a poster of the late former President Hugo Chavez during a massive rally in support of Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, August 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubellos)
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“These accusations, widely viewed as baseless, appear to be another ploy to divert attention away from Maduro's illegitimate inauguration and suppression of the opposition ahead of expected protests,” Medina explained to Fox News Digital. “By linking foreign nationals to these allegations, Maduro seeks to incite fear of foreign interference while creating a convenient scapegoat for his failed leadership and attempting to legitimize state terrorism.
“The timing of these accusations raises concerns about Maduro's broader strategy,” he added. “Moreover, the theatrical accusations serve to justify crackdowns on opposition protests, intimidating Venezuelans into silence while the country sinks deeper into economic and humanitarian crises.
“These actions underscore the lengths to which Maduro will go to maintain his control, despite mounting domestic discontent and growing calls for accountability on the global stage,” Medina said.
The State Department has listed Venezuela as a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” location due to the security threats Americans face there.
