RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The president of the Venezuelan Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, denounced this Tuesday that there was a failed attempt to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro “with drones” last June 22, when he inaugurated a monument for the bicentennial of the Battle of Carabobo, key in the War of Independence.
“They had a plan to assassinate the President of the Republic with drones. Four drones were launched last June 22 against the activity that President Maduro was carrying out, of the inauguration of the new monument for the bicentenary of Carabobo”, he denounced in a press conference.
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He explained that the “four drones were deactivated by our intelligence services”. The plan, according to Rodriguez, also involved the assassination of “all the dignitaries who were there at the inauguration of the Carabobo monument.”
Although he said he did not want to get ahead of the investigations, he again accused Colombia of being behind these plans.
Rodriguez said that “soon it will be known where the drones were bought” and “what the plan was”.
In the recording by the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), a cut could be seen at the beginning of the act, which went from being in broad daylight to a moment when it was already dark.
On June 24, the bicentenary of the battle, Maduro did not attend the traditional parade of the day and remained in Caracas, where he headed a summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA).
On July 5, the day commemorating the signing of the Act of Independence, the Venezuelan ruler attended the traditional parade’s beginning but later left the presidential box.
DENUNCIATION AFTER GUEVARA’S ARREST
The denunciation of this alleged assassination attempt against Maduro, of which he did not show evidence, was made a day after the arrest of former deputy Freddy Guevara, a close collaborator of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who also denounced that same day “threats” and “harassment”.
Guevara was arrested on Monday by the Intelligence Service (Sebin) when he was on a highway in Caracas and is pointed out by the Prosecutor’s Office for a “link with extremist and paramilitary groups associated with the Colombian government”.
“As they failed in the attempts of extreme violence for the Bicentennial of Carabobo (…) then they launched the operation of malandros (criminals) and paramilitaries and terrorists trained in Colombia”, said Rodriguez in reference to the clashes between gangs and police that took place in western Caracas last week.
“These are not the common practices of the Caracas or Venezuelan malandros, no (…) all that is one of the main export products of Colombia at present, mercenaries, paramilitaries, and terrorism”, he assured.
The Chavista pointed out that he will show a video obtained from the cell phone of one of the criminals “of the plan that had to be perpetrated on July 5, with an attack on President Maduro, July 6 and 7 overflows of violence of these criminal groups”.
In addition, Rodriguez showed some alleged WhatsApp conversations between opponents Leopoldo Lopez, Emilio Grateron, Gilber Caro, Hasler Iglesias, and Freddy Guevara.
In said conversations, according to his version, they talked in a coded language about preparing last week’s shootings together with criminal gangs in the southwestern area of Caracas.
According to the official, the Prosecutor’s Office should issue arrest warrants against the leaders of the political party Voluntad Popular Iglesias, Graterón, and Caro, as well as Luis Somaza, director of Guaidó’s office.
This is not the first time that the Government denounces plans to assassinate the president of Venezuela.
One of those times was in July last year when Maduro claimed that his Colombian counterpart, Iván Duque, was preparing snipers in an area of that country to assassinate him, although he did not show evidence of this.