The Venezuelan Public Ministry confirmed this Monday (22) the conduct of investigations against at least five coup plots that would include the death of the president, Nicolás Maduro, and the Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino López.
According to the Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab, 32 arrests were made of people accused of conspiracy. Almost all arrests, Saab said, were carried out in five stages throughout 2023. Only one accused was arrested in January this year.
The MP’s announcement comes in the wake of statements by the president himself who, last week, said that his government had dismantled some coup attempts last year and that possible new attacks were aimed at killing him. For this reason, Maduro announced last Thursday (18) the “Bolivarian Fury Plan”, to dismantle attacks “promoted by international organizations” in Venezuela.
According to Saab, the idea behind the coup attempts was to co-opt security agents “to gain access to presidential security information” and had the help of international organizations. The attorney general also said that those arrested were accused of resistance to authority, bodily harm, property damage, conspiracy, treason, disclosure of military secrets, illicit trafficking in weapons and ammunition, terrorism and conspiracy with foreign governments and associations.
PSUV accuses USA
The vice-president of the ruling party PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) and deputy, Diosdado Cabello, accused this Monday the CIA (United States Intelligence Agency) and the DEA (US Drug Enforcement Administration) of being involved with the cases and said that the MP’s investigations point to this.
Cabello attributed the conspiratorial plans to the “nauseating right” and said that the coup plotters’ objective was to enter Venezuela through the state of Táchira, on the border with Colombian territory. “We will not allow any more terrorism to our people. We know everyone who carried out these attacks in each city,” said Diosdado.
The announcement of the discovery of the plan was made one day before the celebration of 66 years since the end of the dictatorship of General Marcos Pérez Jiménez in Venezuela, in 1958. The government and the opposition are preparing street protests for this Tuesday (23).
Editing: Lucas Estanislau
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
