The President of Venezuela announced that seven foreigners, including two Americans, two Colombians and three Ukrainians, have been arrested and charged with terrorism and attempting to destabilize the government.
“Only today [Tuesday], we captured seven foreign mercenaries, including two important mercenaries from the United States of America (…) who were coming to carry out terrorist actions against peace in Venezuela,” announced Nicolás Maduro, during the swearing-in ceremony of the combat corps, broadcast on Venezuelan state television.
According to Maduro, the new detainees join the 125 foreigners, of 25 nationalities, that Venezuelan authorities have captured since November.
The new arrests take place just days before Maduro’s inauguration for a new six-year presidential term, scheduled for January 10.
At the presidential palace in Miraflores, Maduro activated the Integral Management Bodies (ODIs) by decree during the swearing-in ceremony of the Bolivarian militias to defend peace until he takes office before parliament.
The ODIs, Maduro explained, are a combination of popular power, political power, the armed forces and security agencies, and are active in the 355 municipalities, states, parishes and communities of the country.
Venezuela held presidential elections on July 28, after which the National Electoral Council (CNE) attributed the victory to Maduro, with just over 51% of the vote.
The Venezuelan opposition claims that Edmundo González Urrutia (currently exiled in Spain) obtained almost 70% of the vote.
The opposition and many countries have denounced electoral fraud and have demanded that the CNE present the voting records for independent verification, something that the Council has not yet done.
On January 2, Venezuelan authorities offered a $100,000 reward (about €97,400) for information on Urrutia’s whereabouts.
Last week, Maduro warned that presidential power in the country “will never fall into the hands of a puppet of the oligarchy and imperialism.”
“This house is the house of the people. Now and always,” he said in a video posted on the social network Instagram.
On Friday, the Venezuelan government sent 1,200 soldiers across the country to “guarantee peace” before and during the inauguration.
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