Maduro: ‘This was an attack to kill me’
Contradictory claims about ‘drone strike on Venezuelan leader’
A televised speech by Nicola's Maduro was abruptly cut off, and military personnel were seen running from what the Government called a “failed attack” against the Venezuelan President that left seven soldiers wounded.
First lady Cilia Flores looked up and put her hand to her heart, appearing frightened. The image was quickly changed to lines of military personnel in formation in the centre of Caracas, who seconds later all ran to one side. Maduro’s voice could be heard saying “let’s go to the right”.
“Explosions were heard,” said Communications Minister Jorge Rodr´ıguez an hour later on state TV. “Investigations show clearly that flying artifacts or drones containing explosive material exploded near the presidential stage.”
Photos of the incident published by China’s Xinhua News Agency showed bodyguards jumping in front of Maduro with Kevlar shields, and one uniformed officer clutching a bleeding wound on his head.
Rodr´ıguez said Maduro was safe and the wounded men were being treated. “The event is evidence of desperation of ultra-right leaders who, being defeated politically, continue to resort to criminal practices, and they have failed once again.”
Maduro was speaking at an event celebrating the 81st anniversary of Venezuela’s National Guard. He later said that some of the “far right” plotters had been captured and pointed the finger at Venezuelan dissidents in the US and Colombia. “This was an attack to kill me,” he said.
Some of Maduro’s detractors suggested that the alleged attack could have been staged to stoke patriotism and buoy his flagging national support. AP said the blast was caused by a gas tank explosion inside an apartment building. Local journalists identified the site as the Residencias Don Eduardo apartment building in central Caracas, and posted photos on Twitter of smoke billowing from an apartment.
However, a military expert and former member of the armed forces said her internal sources told her that the attack had not been staged. She predicted that the incident would spark a new series of military arrests. Another military expert, Rocio San Miguel, who is also head of Control Ciudadano, an investigative website focused on security and the military, said that based on what she had gathered from internal sources, she thinks that the incident was “a security mistake. A military drone was destroyed by the military because they lost control of it. It started descending and to avoid it hitting the presidential stage, they destroyed it.”
She said the explosion of the building was probably a separate incident.
Most major opposition leaders refrained from commenting given conflicting information, but one, Nicmer Evans, tweeted: “No matter how credible what Maduro says may sound, once he says he has the material authors, but that evidence will come out later, he is so contradictory that any possibility of believing all of his statements is eliminated.”
The South American nation is in the thick of a political and economic crisis. With inflation spiraling toward 1 million per cent and shortages of food and medicine growing more acute, dozens of officers and soldiers have been arrested in connection with alleged coup plots.
A group called “Soldiers in T-Shirts,” who describe themselves as dissident soldiers, took responsibility for the attacks. “The operation was to fly two drones charged with C4 [explosive] with the presidential stage as the objective. But guard of honour snipers overtook the drones before they reached the target. We demonstrated that they’re vulnerable. We didn’t achieve it today, but it’s a matter of time.” the group tweeted.