May 4 (UPI) — Venezuelan officials said eight people were killed and two were arrested by security forces that thwarted an alleged invasion on Sunday, prompting skepticism from opposition leaders and the United States.
Nestor Reverol, Venezuela’s interior minister, said boats arrived from Colombia with the intent of assassinating leaders in the Venezuelan government to spur chaos.
“The plan was to commit terrorist acts in the country, assassinate leaders of the revolutionary government and add to the spiral of violence while generating chaos and confusion in the population and attempt a new coup d’etat,” said Reverol.
Diosdado Cabello, president of the Constituent Assembly said that a large cache of weapons and some vehicles were also seized by security forces.
“Behind all of this is the United States, the Colombian oligarchy and narcotrafficking,”
National Assembly head and opposition leader Juan Guaido, who led a rally to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last year, said the government’s description of the event was “riddled with inconsistencies, doubts and contradictions.”
He also said the “alleged event” may have been staged to frame the opposition or cover up state killings.
The U.S. State Department also issued a statement skeptical of the report from the Venezuelan government.
“The Maduro regime has been consistent in its use of misinformation in order to shift focus from its mismanagement of Venezuela,” the agency said.
