2 Americans Arrested in Venezuela Ahead of Maduro’s Inauguration for Allegations of ‘Terrorism’
Two American citizens have been arrested in Venezuela on charges that remain unclear, but which President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday they claimed they were linked to the intention of “practicing terrorism”.
Maduro said the “very high-level” Americans he called “mercenaries” were part of a group of seven arrested, although he did not provide any evidence or details of the arrests.
“Just today we captured seven foreign mercenaries, including two important mercenaries from the United States,” Maduro said, according to a Reuters report.
President Nicolas Maduro addresses loyalists gathered in support of his re-election a month after the vote, in Caracas, Venezuela, on August 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Maduro – who is due to resume his leadership role for a third term on Friday despite the widely disputed results of the July election – said two Colombians and three Ukrainians had also been arrested.
He reportedly said his security forces had arrested 125 foreign mercenaries from 25 different countries who he claimed had entered the country with the intention of “practicing terrorism against the people of Venezuela.”
A State Department spokesman flatly dismissed Maduro’s claims, telling Fox News Digital: “All allegations of US involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false.”
“The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela. As Maduro and his associates have demonstrated in the past, they can detain and detain, without justification or due process, American citizens who enter Venezuela,” the spokesman added.
The identities of those arrested have not been released for “privacy and other reasons.”
Although a spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the department is “working to gather more information” and remains “concerned” about the Americans detained in Venezuela.
Opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez leads protests against election results that declared Nicolas Maduro the winner, in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
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It remains unclear how many Americans are currently being held in Venezuela following a landmark prisoner exchange in 2023 when Washington and Caracas negotiated the release of dozens of prisonersincluding 10 Americans, in exchange for Colombian businessman Alex Saab, a close ally of Maduro.
His statements coincided with a visit to DC by opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who Washington was enthusiastically supportiveand who has been declared president-elect by several countries, including the USA
On Monday, President Biden reiterated the U.S. position on the election results — which were declared a victory for the soon-to-be three-term president by pro-Maduro courts — and called Gonzalez “the real winner” of the July race.
Venezuelan authorities have refused to release ballot box results to back up their claims of victory, while Gonzalez’s team has reportedly released thousands of scanned copies of voting machine results collected by ballot box observers in the days after the election – reportedly accounting for 80% of the votes cast that showed victory for the opposition leader.
Maduro’s accusations of a US coup escalated in the weeks after his internationally contested election, and by September the Venezuelan leader was making claims that the CIA orchestrated the overthrow conspiracy of his government and said about 400 rifles had been seized and a Navy SEAL had been arrested.
Isaias Medina, a former Venezuelan diplomat at the United Nations, said Maduro’s latest arrests and comments “are consistent with his patterns of ‘hostage diplomacy.’
Government loyalists hold a poster of late former President Hugo Chavez during a rally in support of Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
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“These accusations, which many consider baseless, appear to be another ploy to divert attention from Maduro’s illegitimate inauguration and suppress dissent ahead of the expected protests,” Medina explained to Fox News Digital. “By linking foreign nationals to these charges, Maduro seeks to stoke fears of outside interference as he creates convenient scapegoats for his failed leadership and attempts to legalize state terrorism.
“The timing of these charges raises concerns about Maduro’s broader strategy,” he added. “Furthermore, the theatrical accusations serve to justify the crackdown on opposition protests, intimidating Venezuelans into silence as the country sinks deeper into an economic and humanitarian crisis.
“These actions underscore the lengths to which Maduro will go to maintain control, despite growing domestic discontent and growing calls for accountability on the world stage,” Medina said.
The State Department has placed Venezuela on a Level 4 “do not travel” list because of the security threats Americans face there.
