The Venezuelan government said over the weekend that it arrested six foreigners, including three American citizens, over an alleged plot to destabilize the country that included a plan to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.
Among the Americans arrested was Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez, a member of the US Navy. US officials said he is a first-class petty officer who was formerly a Navy SEAL and insisted he was traveling on his own.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello alleged that Castañeda Gomez led the plot on behalf of the CIA, a charge denied by the US government. “The US is behind this operation. The US is handing over these firearms, they allow them to freely circulate so they can arrive in Venezuela and be used in an operation,” Cabello said at a press conference.
Venezuelan authorities said they seized 400 rifles of US origin that were allegedly linked to the plot, and some were displayed during Cabello’s press conference.
The State Department said that any claims the US was involved in a plot to kill Maduro were “categorically false.”
The allegations from Venzeula come after the Biden administration announced it rejected the results of the 2024 election and recognized Edmundo González Urrutia, who was on the ballot for the opposition, as the winner. Venezuela’s election authorities declared Maduro the winner, but the opposition disputed the results and also claimed victory.
Back in 2019, the US rejected the result of Venezuela’s 2018 elections and recognized opposition figure Juan Guaido as acting president. The US supported Guaido’s failed coup attempt against Maduro. The regime change effort came with crippling sanctions that amounted to an economic embargo.
