MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine national among alleged conspirators arrested in Venezuela

“We are deployed all over Venezuela,” Cabello warned

Nationals of Argentina, Bulgaria, and Spain have been arrested in Venezuela. They were accused of plotting to “sabotage, by violent means,” the country ahead of the May 25 regional and legislative elections. According to Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, the group was intercepted at sea with 200 kilos of gunpowder, allegedly part of a conspiracy linked to fugitive former commissioner Iván Simonovis and opposition leader María Corina Machado.

Cabello claimed the detainees were paid US$ 25,000 to carry out these acts. Additionally, 17 other foreigners and 21 Venezuelans were arrested for similar plans to attack diplomatic sites and sabotage the elections. ”We are preparing for elections; we campaign with joy, but they (the ultra-right) are not preparing for elections; they are always preparing for a war, for violence, but our people are activated and we are deployed all over Venezuela,“ Cabello argued. ”If they come here to conspire, we are going to catch them, know it,“ he insisted. ”We got their coordinates and we got them. A Bulgarian, an Argentinean, and that's the way it goes. Two boats on the high seas,” Cabello said on Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).

In Buenos Aires, the government expressed concern over the arrest of an executive from a cybersecurity company who entered Venezuela with an Italian passport. The Libertarian administration warned its citizens against traveling to Venezuela, citing the risk of being taken hostage, particularly after Border Guard NCO Nahuel Gallo was detained in December last year when traveling to visit his romantic partner and the child they have in common. Gallo's whereabouts remain unknown and has has had no consular assistance.

“Stop traveling to that country, because it is a danger. They take you hostage,” sources linked to Casa Rosada were quoted by local media as saying. Since the Chavista regime has not disclosed the identities of the detainees, Argentine officials are investigating amidst severed consular ties. “We are investigating from the first minute, but the situation is very complicated because diplomatic and consular relations are absolutely cut off,” the sources went on.