Venezuela arrests five foreigners over alleged anti-government plot

Venezuela has detained five more foreigners for their alleged connection to a plot to destabilise the country, the interior minister announced on Thursday.

The latest arrests are for what authorities have characterised as anti-government activities following the disputed July presidential election.

Interior minister Diosdado Cabello did not provide proof to back the allegations that the detainees were linked to terrorist activities.

As in similar previous announcements, he claimed without showing any evidence that US intelligence agencies planned the activities.

He did not say when the five people were detained but announced a Peruvian and a Bolivian citizen were taken into custody along with the three Americans.

He said all “speak Spanish perfectly” and travelled to the country claiming to be “in love with Venezuela” and planning “to see their partner”.

Last month, Mr Cabello announced the arrests of three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen whom he accused of traveling to Venezuela to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro as part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and kill several members of its leadership.

The mid-September announcement came two days after the US-imposed sanctions on 16 allies of Mr Maduro whom the Biden administration accused of obstructing voting during the July 28 presidential election and carrying out human rights abuses.

Ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared Mr Maduro the victor hours after polls closed, but they did not publish a breakdown of results as they had done in previous presidential elections. They claimed they could not release the detailed information because their website was hacked.

The main opposition coalition secured tally sheets from more than 80% of voting machines and published them online. The coalition said the records showed its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez defeated Mr Maduro by a two-to-one margin.

The Maduro administration has previously used Americans imprisoned in Venezuela to gain concessions from the US government.

In a deal conducted last year with the Biden administration, Mr Maduro released 10 Americans and a fugitive wanted by the US government to secure a presidential pardon for Alex Saab, a close Maduro ally who was held in Florida on money laundering charges.

According to US prosecutors, Saab had also helped Mr Maduro to avoid US Treasury sanctions through a complex network of shell companies.

“The safety and security of American citizens anywhere around the world is our first priority, and we’re going to gather more information about this in the hours ahead,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters referring to Cabello’s Thursday announcement.