Maduro says US, Guaido plotting his assassination

CARACAS: President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday accused the United States of using frozen Venezuelan funds to bankroll mercenaries to assassinate him in a “plot” he said was directed by opposition leader Juan Guaido.

“We have dismantled a plan organised personally by the diabolical puppet to kill me,” Mr Maduro told thousands of supporters in Caracas, referring to Mr Guaido, who is recognised as interim president by more than 50 countries.

He alleged that Colombia, Venezuela’s US-aligned neighbour, was also involved, and said that an unidentified Colombian paramilitary chief had been captured in the country “and is giving testimony”.

Mr Maduro’s government gave details of the alleged plot on state television, with Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez saying “hitmen” from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras had been recruited “using big sums of money” and sent to Colombia ahead of missions into Venezuela to carry out “targetted assassinations” and “sabotage”.

Mr Rodriguez accused Mr Guaido’s chief-of-staff, Roberto Marrero, of receiving money from the United States and being a key organiser of the alleged operation.

Mr Marrero, a 49-year-old lawyer, was arrested on Thursday in his Caracas home, triggering an outcry and demands he be immediately released by the US, the European Union and major Latin American countries that recognise Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president.

He yelled out to a neighbour, an opposition lawmaker, that the SEBIN intelligence officers arresting him had planted two assault rifles and a grenade in his home.

Hours later, Mr Maduro’s government showed pictures of weapons it said it found and alleged Mr Marrero was part of a “terrorist cell”.

Mr Rodriguez played recordings he said were from WhatsApp conversations between Mr Marrero and Mr Guaido in which he said they discussed using Venezuelan funds blocked by US sanctions to finance armed groups with the support of Colombian President Ivan Duque.