Spain rejected on Sunday allegations by Venezuela that Madrid was involved in a plot to destabilize the government of the Latin American country, according to a Foreign Ministry source.
“Spain denies and categorically rejects any insinuation that it is involved in a political destabilization operation in Venezuela,” the source told AFP after three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were detained in Venezuela and accused of involvement in a plot against the government.
The government “has confirmed” that the two Spanish detainees “are not part of” Spain’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI) spy agency “or any other state body,” the source added.
“Spain defends a democratic and peaceful solution to the situation in Venezuela,” the source said.
Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on Saturday that the foreign nationals were being held on suspicion of planning an attack on President Nicolas Maduro and his government.
He said two Spaniards were recently detained in Puerto Ayacucho in the southwest over the alleged plot linked to intelligence agencies in the United States and Spain as well as to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
A US State Department spokesperson said on Saturday that “any claims of US involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false.”
The arrests come amid heightened tensions between Venezuela and both the US and Spain over Venezuela’s disputed July 28 presidential election, which the country’s opposition accuses Maduro of stealing.
With AFP
