Venezuelan security services have detained two men suspected of plotting to kill President Nicolás Maduro, state prosecutor Tarek William Saab said in a statement posted on official social media accounts.
"On March 11, two people were arrested ... for publishing very serious threats, once again inciting the assassination of President Nicolás Maduro Moros during his stay in Maturin," said Saab, whose speech was posted on social media by the office of the public prosecutor. .
As announced by the prosecutor, a certain Renzo Florese, a sergeant who deserted from the Venezuelan National Guard, and Bilder Jose Piña, a member of a political movement called "Case R", were arrested, who were being followed because of their previous threatening posts on social networks.
The two, according to prosecutor Saab, were members of the organization "Together for Monagas" and from the materials discovered in their mobile phones, they had plans to recruit 50 active soldiers to seize military warehouses and weapons and organize an armed rebellion during which the president would be liquidated. Maduro.
The assassination of the head of state was planned during Maduro's announced visit to Maturin, Venezuela's chief prosecutor added.
Venezuelan prosecutors intend to charge those arrested with alleged criminal conspiracy and attempted murder in the coming hours.
Venezuela is in the period of preparations for holding the presidential elections scheduled for July 28. President Nicolas Maduro is expected to run for re-election, but it is unclear which opposition candidate he will face. In January, the Supreme Court upheld a ban on public office for María Corina Machado, who won the opposition primary in a landslide in October, leading to the reimposition of US sanctions.
The election date is also the birthday of late President Hugo Chavez, Maduro's mentor and predecessor, who died in 2013.
The government and the opposition agreed last October that the vote would take place in the second half of 2024 and that each side would be allowed to choose a candidate. They also agreed that international observers, including those from the European Union and the United Nations, would monitor the vote.
Some opponents have previously expressed doubts that Maduro will support the agreement, and their fears are justified by the limitation of the opposition candidate Machado.
