Plotters:

Venezuela

jails coup

Five members of Venezuela’s armed forces and three civilians were imprisoned Wednesday, convicted of taking part in a 2015 coup plot against President Nicolas Maduro, a prisoners’ rights group said.

A military court handed down sentences of between three and six years, the group Foro Penal announced.

Maduro publicly denounced a coup plot in February 2015 that he said was backed by sectors of the opposition and financed by the US government.

The socialist president referred to it as the “blue coup” — a reference to the color of Venezuela’s air force uniform, saying the plot had been “dismantled.” (AFP)

4 killed, 25 arrested in Mexico:

Mexico City prosecutors say four people are dead and 25 arrested after a series of shootings apparently related to drug dealing.

Police responding to reports of drug deals found two people dead on the city’s south side. Police chased the suspects and came under fire from gunmen on motorcycles. They reported killing kill two of the assailants and wounding another.

Five guns, one car and 16 motorcycles were seized at the scene.

This comes two days after pieces of the dismembered bodies of two men were found scattered on a major street in the capital.

Mexico City had largely been spared the grisly drug cartel violence affecting other parts of Mexico. (AP)

P. Rico privatizes power co:

Maduro

Puerto Rico’s governor signed a historic bill Wednesday to privatize the US territory’s troubled power company in a move many hope will help minimize power outages that have followed Hurricane Maria and stabilize the production and distribution of energy amid an 11-yearold recession.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority is one of the largest US public utilities, and the bill allows for the sale of its power generation plants as the company faces more than $9 billion in public debt and relies on infrastructure nearly three times older than the industry average. It also allows the government to create public-private partnerships for the transmission and distribution of power as well as for services including billing and meter-reading.

“We’re here to make transformational changes for Puerto Rico,” Gov. Ricardo Rossello said, adding that he believes the law will help attract more investment. “It’s no secret that Puerto Rico’s economic development has remained stagnant in recent decades.” (AP)