US citizens detained after mercenaries’ plot to oust leader failed

● Washington accused of complicity but denies any involvement in operation

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro said authorities arrested two US citizens among a group of “mercenaries”, a day after a beach raid purportedly aimed at capturing the socialist leader that authorities say they foiled.

Mr Maduro held up a pair of blue American passports, reading off the names and birth dates on them in a nationwide broadcast on state television.

He showed images of the fishing boats the alleged attackers rode in on and equipment like walkie-talkies and night-vision glasses collected in what Mr Maduro called an “intense” couple of days.

He blamed the attacks on the Trump administration and neighbouring Colombia, both of which denied involvement.

“The United States government is fully and completely involved in this defeated raid,” Mr Maduro said, praising members of a fishing village for cornering one group in the sweep netting the “professional American mercenaries”.

Before dawn on Sunday, officials say the first attack started on a beach near Venezuela’s port city of La Guaira, when security forces made the first two arrests and killed eight others attempting to make a landing by speedboats.

The two US citizens arrested on Monday were identified as as Luke Denman and Airan Berry, both former US special forces soldiers.

Florida-based ex-green Beret Jordan Goudreau said earlier that day that he was working with the two men in a mission intending to detain Mr Maduro and “liberate” Venezuela.

Mr Goudreau has claimed responsibility for the operation. The two served in Iraq and Afghanistan with him in the US military, Mr Goudreau said, adding they were part of this alleged mission in Venezuela called “Operation Gideon”.

Venezuela has been in a deepening political and economic crisis under Mr Maduro’s rule. Crumbling public services such as running water, electricity and medical care, have driven nearly five million to migrate.

But Mr Maduro still controls all levers of power despite a Us-led campaign to oust him. It recently indicted Mr Maduro as a drug trafficker and offered a $15 million (£12m) reward for his arrest.

Venezuela and the United States broke diplomatic ties last year amid heightened tensions, so there is no American embassy in Caracas. Mr Goudreau has said he reached an agreement with the Usbacked Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to overthrow Mr Maduro, which Mr Guaido has denied.