Three American citizens and two Spaniards have been detained pending court trial in Venezuela on suspicion of plotting to “destabilize” the country through “violent actions.”
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said in a news conference on Saturday that the five were detained on suspicion of planning an attack on President Nicolas Maduro and his government.
Cabello said the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was leading the operation aimed at assassinating Maduro, adding that hundreds of rifles had been found.
The minister told reporters that one of the detained Americans had been identified as US Navy SEAL William Joseph Castaneda Gomez.
Cabello said Gomez was in charge of the outfit for the CIA plot. Cabello also identified the two other detained Americans as David Estrella and Aaron Barrett Logan.