Venezuela's government said it foiled a marine incursion on Sunday by “terrorist mercenaries” who attempted to enter the country on speedboats from neighboring Colombia.
Protesters in Venezuela have accused the government of murdering a jailed opposition lawmaker, who the authorities say killed himself. Crowds were calling for justice at a rally outside the Sebin intelligence agency headquarters in Caracas where Fernando Albán had been held.
Among the sanctioned are the number two of the government, Diosdado Cabello; Néstor Reverol, minister of Justice and Maikel Moreno, president of the Supreme Court of Justice. These are new individual sanctions, which include the freezing of assets and the prohibition to travel to the countries of the European bloc to at least seven senior Venezuelan officials.
After a day of speculation and uncertainty in Venezuela, the interior minister, Néstor Reverol confirmed the death of Oscar Pérez, who, according to the minister, “attacked our officials” when the authorities were preparing to negotiate the surrender of the rebels, which the same Oscar Perez denied minutes before dying in several videos published on his social networks. The minister also reported that the Venezuelan opposition provided information for the location of the former insurgent police and part of the La Resistencia group at the dialogue table in the Dominican Republic.