Venezuela detains 6, hunts more in drone attack on Maduro

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Investigators hunting for assailants behind a failed attempt to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro with explosives-laden drones have raided hotels and seized vehicles while grilling six suspects for details of the plot. He characterized it as an attack aimed at the embattled president, who was recently elected to a new term in office despite a crippling economic and humanitarian crisis. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro dodged an apparent assassination attempt when drones armed with explosives detonated while he was delivering a speech to hundreds of soldiers being broadcast live on television, officials said. Speaking afterwards Maduro, who was quickly ushered away by bodyguards, said: ‘This was an attempt to kill me.’

Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said the incident took place shortly after 5.30pm as Maduro was celebrating the National Guard’s 81st anniversary in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said that several drones armed with explosives detonated near Maduro as he was delivering a speech. Some of the ‘material authors’ of the apparent assassination attempt have been detained, the Venezuelan government has said. ‘The hour of the economy recovery has come,’ he declared, moments before the explosion. Investigators continued searching the blackened apartment building near the speech site, and authorities said officers also raided six hotels, where some of the suspects were arrested and "film" evidence was collected. Two witnesses in the area said on Sunday that they heard and felt an explosion in the late afternoon, then saw a drone fall out of the sky and hit a nearby building. Witnesses interviewed Sunday by The Associated Press confirmed seeing at least one drone that appeared to be linked to an explosion. The device subsequently exploded as it fell to the ground, causing no injuries but leaving dark scorch marks on the side of the building. “I went to the balcony and I saw the little plane ... it hit the building and smoke started to come out.”

A second witness, who lives in the building that was struck by the drone but asked not to be identified, described a similar sequence of events. “I heard the first explosion, it was so strong that the buildings moved,” said Mairum Gonzalez, 45, a pre-school teacher. Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, said: "If the government of Venezuela has hard information that they want to present to us that would show a potential violation of U.S. criminal law, we'll take a serious look at it." “We warn that the government is taking advantage of this incident ... to criminalize those who legitimately and democratically oppose it and deepen the repression and systematic human rights violations,” wrote the Broad Front opposition coalition in a statement published on Twitter. Adding to the confusion, a little known group calling itself Soldiers in T-shirts claimed responsibility, saying it planned to fly two drones loaded with explosives at the president, but government soldiers shot them down before reaching its target. The authenticity of the message could not be independently verified, and the organization did not respond to a message from the AP. ‘It was not successful today, but it is just a matter of time.’

David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America who has spent decades researching Venezuela, said the incident did not appear to be a staged attack by Maduro’s government for political gain. ‘No matter who falls.’

Venezuela’s government routinely accuses opposition activists of plotting to attack and overthrow Maduro, who has been accused of authoritarian leadership, and has steadily moved to concentrate power as the nation reels from a crippling economic crisis. The former bus driver has moved steadily to consolidate power as the nation struggles to reverse hyperinflation that the International Monetary Fund projects could top 1 million percent by year's end. Last year, amid deadly, near-daily protests, rogue police officer Oscar Perez flew a stolen helicopter over the capital and launched grenades at several government buildings. Perez and several comrades were killed in a gunbattle with police after more than six months at large.
Venezuelan authorities detain six people involved in what they call an assassination attempt on Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro.