Venezuelan \u201cextremists\u201d plan to attack the shuttered US diplomatic mission in the capital, the country\u2019s top lawmaker has said<\/p>\n
Venezuela has warned Washington of a plot by extremist groups to plant explosives at the closed US Embassy in Caracas. National Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodriguez made the announcement on social media on Monday, saying the government had notified the United States \u201cthrough three different channels\u201d about \u201ca serious threat.\u201d
\n\u201cThrough a false-flag operation prepared by extremist sectors of the local right wing, there are attempts to place lethal explosives at the US Embassy in Venezuela,\u201d Rodriguez wrote on Telegram, adding that a European embassy had also been notified, without specifying which one.
\nThe US Embassy has been closed since 2019 but remains guarded by staff responsible for security and maintenance. Diplomatic relations were cut that year after Washington recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela\u2019s interim president, rejecting Nicolas Maduro\u2019s re-election as illegitimate and imposing sweeping sanctions on Caracas.
\nTensions between the two countries have spiked in recent weeks following US military strikes on vessels off Venezuela\u2019s coast, which Washington described as part of an anti-drug campaign. The attacks, which killed more than a dozen people, were linked by US officials to criminal cartels allegedly operating under the protection of Maduro\u2019s government. American officials have accused the Venezuelan leader of maintaining close ties with traffickers and described him as \u201ceffectively a kingpin of a narco-state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Trump breaks off diplomacy with Venezuela \u2013 NYT<\/p>\n
Maduro has dismissed the allegations, accusing Washington of seeking to overthrow him and seize Venezuela\u2019s natural resources. Caracas has already stepped up its defense posture to counter the increased US military footprint in the region.
\nLast week, The New York Times reported that senior aides have been urging US President Donald Trump to pursue Maduro\u2019s removal, though the US leader has denied any plans for regime change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Venezuelan \u201cextremists\u201d plan to attack the shuttered US diplomatic mission in the capital, the country\u2019s top lawmaker has said Venezuela has warned Washington of a plot by extremist groups to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19905,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t