General, colonel nabbed for slay try

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 Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).

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.

Gamez of the National Guard appeared before a judge on Monday along with opposition politician Juan Requesens and another mil-

Tarek William Saab told a press conference.

Court issued a statement saying it had ordered the detention of those

aggravated homicide against the president.”

To date, 14 people have been arrested and charged for allegedly

in which Maduro was seen reacting on live television to an off-camera explosion while he addressed a military parade in Caracas.

and then the assembled troops could be seen breaking formation and scattering in panic.

Maduro said the blasts were from explosives- laden drones sent to assassinate him, though

of fabricating the incident to step up repression.

- ed Requesens’ bank accounts be blocked along with those of opposition parliament chairman Julio Borges, who has fled to neighboring Colombia. powerful super- legislative body of Maduro loyalists created last year that has arrogated powers from the opposition-dominated

stripped Borges and Requesens of their parliamentary immunity so they can be put on trial.

Maduro’s government has also asked Interpol to arrest Borges.

Two of those arrested, the col-

Monasterios, a retired soldier, were also charged in connection with an assault on a military fort

which weapons were stolen.

militant Oscar Perez, who shot to prominence during unrest in 2017 when he used a helicopter to drop grenades on the Supreme Court and interior ministry buildings, had led the attack on the fort. Perez was killed in a police assault on his hideout in January.

The arrest of the general and colonel comes after the detention of several soldiers in recent months for allegedly conspiring against Maduro.

Within days of his controversial re-election in May in a poll boycotted by the opposition, Maduro announced the capture of a group of soldiers accused of plotting to destabilize the elections. He said they had received backing from the opposition as well as from the US and Colombian governments.

San Miguel estimates that some 200 members of the armed forces are currently in prison.

Following the drone incident, the military high command issued a statement reiterating its “unconditional loyalty” to the president, who has overseen the collapse of his nation’s once-thriving oilbased economy.