Venezuela

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela’s military said it seized three abandoned Colombian light combat vessels that soldiers found on Saturday while patrolling the Orinoco river, several days after the government accused its neighbor of aiding a failed invasion.

In a statement, the Defense Ministry said the boats were equipped with machine guns and ammunition, but had no crew, adding they were discovered as part of a nationwide operation to guarantee Venezuela’s “freedom and sovereignty.”

9 May 2020; AFP: Venezuela has charged two former US soldiers with terrorism and conspiracy for allegedly taking part in a failed bid to topple President Nicolas Maduro, the attorney general said on Friday.

Luke Alexander Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, were among 17 people captured by the Venezuelan military, which said it had thwarted an attempted invasion by mercenaries in the early hours of Sunday.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Venezuela will present to the United Nations Security Council the case of the attempt by certain groups to carry out a plot against the South American country, and will also present the evidence before the International Criminal Court (ICC), said President Nicolás Maduro.

CARACAS (Reuters) - Members of Venezuela’s opposition in October negotiated a $213 million deal with a small Florida security company to invade the country and overthrow President Nicolas Maduro, according to a document published by the Washington Post on Thursday.

Venezuelan authorities this week arrested more than a dozen people, including Americans who work for the company, Silvercorp USA, as part of a bungled incursion that has served as a public relations victory for Maduro’s struggling government.

CARACAS, May 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuela will try two Americans allegedly captured during a failed raid by mercenaries, President Nicolas Maduro said as the US vowed to “use every tool available” to bring them home.

Venezuela announced on Monday that it had arrested the pair on suspicion of trying to topple Maduro in an operation supported by the US-backed opposition.

CARACAS (Reuters) - A former U.S. soldier captured in Venezuela said on Wednesday that he had been contracted by a Florida security firm to seize control of Caracas’ airport and bring in a plane to fly President Nicolas Maduro to the United States.

Venezuelan authorities on Monday arrested the man, Luke Denman, along with fellow U.S. citizen Airan Berry and 11 others, in what Maduro has called a failed plot coordinated with Washington to oust him.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States had nothing to do with an alleged incursion into Venezuela that landed two U.S. citizens behind bars in the crisis-stricken South American nation.

Trump said he had just learned of the detention of the pair, accused by Venezuela of being mercenaries. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said they were part of an operation to kill him that was backed by neighboring Colombia and the United States.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said authorities arrested two U.S. citizens among a group of “mercenaries” on Monday, a day after a beach raid purportedly aimed at capturing the socialist leader that authorities say they foiled.

CARACAS, May 4 (NNN-XINHUA) – Venezuelan Interior Minister, Nestor Reverol, announced that, an attempted maritime invasion “by Colombian terrorist mercenaries,” occurred in the central state of La Guaira, to destabilise the country.

He stated that the objective of the attack was “to increase the spiral of violence, generate chaos and confusion in the population, and thereby lead to a new coup attempt.”

CARACAS (Reuters) - Human rights groups on Saturday called for an investigation into a prison riot in western Venezuela that left 46 people dead and 75 injured, and questioned authorities’ explanation that the incident was linked to a failed escape attempt.

The U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCR) said on Twitter it was “gravely concerned” about the incident on Friday at the Los Llanos penitentiary in Portuguesa state. The South American country’s prisons are infamous for extreme levels of violence and poor conditions.