Venezuelan top brass held over ‘attack’ on Maduro

CARACAS: Venezuela has arrested a general and a colonel as part of a probe into an alleged attempt to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro, the Supreme Court said.

The arrests increased suspicions about possible divisions within the military, considered a bedrock of support for the widely unpopular president as Venezuela’s economy unravels and people grow more and more desperate and angry.

Major General Alejandro Perez Gamez of the National Guard appeared before a judge on Monday along with opposition politician Juan Requesens and another military officer, Colonel Pedro Javier Zambrano, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said.

Around midnight, the Supreme Court issued a statement saying it had ordered the detention of those men and five others “for attempted aggravated homicide against the president”.

To date, 14 people have been arrested and charged for allegedly taking part in the Aug 4 incident in which Maduro was seen reacting on television to an off-camera explosion while he addressed a military parade in Caracas.

A second explosion was heard and then the assembled troops could be seen scattering in panic.

Maduro said the blasts were from explosives-laden drones sent to assassinate him, though opposition figures accuse Maduro of fabricating the incident to step up repression.

Saab said further arrests were possible.

He said his office had requested Requesens’ bank accounts be blocked along with those of opposition parliament chairman Julio Borges, who has fled to neighbouring Colombia.