Venezuela government says it foiled plot to assassinate president Maduro.

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President Nicolás Maduro during a wreath laying ceremony during the 198th anniversary of the Carabobo battle in Valencia, Carabobo state, on 24 June. Photograph: HO/AFP/Getty Images
▼  Venezuelan officials said that they have foiled a plot to overthrow the government that included assassinating President Nicolás Maduroand his closest political allies.
Maduro spokesman Jorge Rodríguez said on state television that a network of mostly retired police officers and soldiers planned to bomb a key government building, seize a Caracas air base and loot Venezuela’s central bank.
He also said the plotters wanted to edge opposition leader Juan  Guaidófrom Venezuela’s political landscape. Guaidó, leader of the opposition-dominated National Assembly, is seeking to oust Maduro from power with backing from more than 50 nations.
Rodríguez said the purported network wanted to steal a helicopter to liberate Raúl Baduel, a former defense minister now in jail and install him as president.
The government has claimed various plots over the years, generally offering little or no evidence to back its charges. The opposition contends Maduro uses such claims to justify his crackdown on dissent.
Guaidó dismissed the latest claim as yet another attempt by the government to distract from Venezuela’s real problems.
Maduro came under attack last  August by two drones loaded  with explosives, which detonated near the president while he spoke at an outdoor military celebration. He was not harmed in the attack, which officials called an assassination attempt.
Rodríguez charged that Colombian President Iván Duque and Chilean President Sebastián Piñera backed the purportedly thwarted coup plot, but he didn’t provide evidence.
Rodríguez showed what he said were scenes from 56 hours of intercepted video conference calls with the alleged plotters hashing out strategy for the attack planned for June 23.
The spokesman said first lady Cilia Flores and Diosdado Cabello, leader of Venezuela’s governing socialist party, were among those also targeted for assassination.

► This news was originally published here: Source