Venezuela: Three Americans and three others arrested in connection with a plot against Maduro

Three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech national were arrested on Saturday after Venezuelan officials accused them of coming to the South American country to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro.

The arrests were announced on state television by Diosdado Cabello, the country's powerful interior minister. Cabello said the foreign nationals were part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and assassinate several members of its leadership. In the television broadcast, Cabello showed images of guns that he said had been confiscated from some of the conspirators in the alleged plan.

Among the American citizens arrested was a member of the U.S. Navy, whom Cabello identified as Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez. Cabello said Gomez was a Navy SEAL who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia.

The Spanish embassy in Venezuela did not respond to a request for comment on the arrests of its citizens.

The US State Department confirmed the arrest of a US military personnel late Saturday and said it was aware of “unconfirmed reports of two other US citizens arrested in Venezuela”.

“All allegations of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela,” the statement said.

The announcement of the arrests comes just two days after the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 16 Maduro allies accused by the US government of obstructing voting and committing human rights abuses in Venezuela's disputed July 28 presidential election.

Earlier this week, the Spanish parliament recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner of the election against Maduro. Maduro's allies were angry and called on the Venezuelan government to cut off trade and diplomatic relations with Spain.

Tensions between Caracas and Washington have escalated since the elections. The election result sparked protests in Venezuela in which hundreds of opposition activists were arrested.

The Venezuelan Electoral Council, which is close to the Maduro government, said the incumbent won the election with 52 percent of the vote, but did not provide a detailed breakdown of the results.

Opposition activists collected vote counts from 80 percent of the country's voting machines and published them online, showing that González won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.

Despite international criticism of the election's lack of transparency, Venezuela's Supreme Court, which has long backed Maduro, confirmed his victory in August. Venezuela's attorney general then filed conspiracy charges against Gonzalez, who fled to Spain last week when it became clear he would be arrested.

Maduro has rejected requests from several countries, including the left-wing governments of Colombia and Brazil, to present ballot papers as proof of his election victory.

Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, has long claimed that the United States is trying to overthrow him through sanctions and covert operations.

His government has used Americans detained in Venezuela before to extract concessions from the U.S. government. As part of a deal struck with the Biden administration last year, Maduro released 10 Americans and a U.S.-wanted fugitive in exchange for a presidential pardon for Alex Saab, a close Maduro ally held in Florida on money laundering charges. U.S. prosecutors say Saab also helped Maduro evade U.S. Treasury sanctions through a complex network of shell companies.

Rueda writes for the Associated Press.