[News] Venezuelan Gov’t Presents Evidence of Alleged Opposition Paramilitary Plot

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/14402


  Venezuelan Gov’t Presents Evidence of Alleged Opposition Paramilitary Plot

By Ricardo Vaz - March 25, 2019
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Caracas, March 25, 2019 (venezuelanalysis.com 
<http://venezuelanalysis.com/>) - Venezuelan authorities have alleged 
that self-proclaimed “Interim President” Juan Guaido and other 
opposition leaders were involved in a plot to carry out acts of 
terrorism employing foreign paramilitaries trained in Colombia.

Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez presented 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zosm99g50pk> what he claimed to be 
evidence 
<http://albaciudad.org/2019/03/gobierno-venezolano-presenta-pruebas-que-involucran-a-juan-guaido-y-la-oposicion-venezolana-en-hechos-terroristas-contra-el-pais/> 
of “ultra-right plans to promote regime change.” According to Rodriguez, 
Venezuelan intelligence services uncovered plans to contract mercenaries 
from Colombia and Central America and bring them into Venezuela to 
execute targeted killings and acts of sabotage, adding that “at least 
half” of the armed groups managed to make their way into Venezuelan 
territory and are currently being sought.

“We have identified some paramilitaries that have entered Venezuela, and 
we will search for them by land, sea and air,” Rodriguez told press.

Juan Guaido’s chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, was arrested 
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14398> on Thursday, accused of 
leading a “terrorist cell.” Rodriguez claimed that Marrero was the link 
to to the hiring of Central American mercenaries.

Rodriguez went on to reveal screen captures of Marrero’s phone 
purportedly showing Whatsapp group conversations featuring Marrero, 
Guaido, Leopoldo Lopez, currently under house arrest after being 
convicted <https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/11502> for inciting 
violence in the 2014 street protests, among other opposition figures. 
Rodriguez pledged that more evidence will be divulged in the coming days.

The screen captures also revealed details of alleged bank accounts 
through which payments to the paramilitary groups were supposed to be 
made. One of them was in Banesco’s Panama branch. Banesco is Venezuela’s 
largest private bank, and Rodriguez called on Banesco owner Ricardo 
Escotet to inform security services whether this account exists and what 
movements have been made.

Rodriguez indicated that Venezuelan authorities had learned of the 
existence of the bank accounts after notorious Russian pranksters 
Vladimir ‘Vovan’ Kuznetsov and Alexei ‘Lexus’ Stolyarov called 
<https://www.rt.com/news/453844-prank-russia-venezuela-guaido/> Guaido 
impersonating the president of Switzerland. The pranksters said they had 
identified funds belonging to President Nicolas Maduro they wished to 
transfer to Guaido, who readily provided the “president” with account 
information.

Lawyer Juan Planchart was also reportedly detained on Sunday by 
Venezuela’s SEBIN intelligence services, and is reportedly being held at 
SEBIN’s facilities in Caracas’ Plaza Venezuela. Planchart was presented 
in the supposed Whatsapp conversations revealed by Rodriguez as a 
financial intermediary. At the time of writing there has been no 
official confirmation of Planchart’s arrest.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro likewise divulged that a Colombian 
paramilitary leader, Wilfrido Torres Gomez, alias “Neco,” was captured 
in Carabobo State on Saturday. Jorge Rodriguez later claimed on Twitter 
<https://twitter.com/jorgerpsuv/status/1109538528889896961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw> 
that Torres was involved in the alleged opposition plans.

US authorities reacted to Marrero’s arrest by imposing sanctions 
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14398> against three major Venezuelan 
public banks on Friday. The move followed sanctions against Venezuela’s 
mining sector <https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14396> and an oil 
embargo <https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14268> imposed in late 
January. There has been no reaction to the latest arrests from US 
officials or from Guaido and the Venezuelan opposition.

Rodriguez’s revelations came as two Russian air force planes touched 
down at Venezuela’s Maiquetia airport on Sunday. According to reports, 
the planes carried equipment and around 100 servicemen, including a 
high-ranking Russian defense official.

According to a source quoted by Sputnik 
<https://sputniknews.com/latam/201903251073513407-russia-venezuela-cooperation/>, 
the deployment represents a fulfilment of “technical and military 
cooperation agreements.” The Venezuelan government has yet to issue a 
public statement. Russia had previously sent military aircraft 
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14182> to Venezuela in December as 
part of bilateral defense accords.

US officials reacted to the latest development, with Secretary of State 
Mike Pompeo calling 
<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-pompeo/pompeo-urges-moscow-to-cease-unconstructive-behavior-in-venezuela-idUSKCN1R61PL> 
on Russia to “cease its unconstructive behavior” regarding Venezuela. 
Florida Senator Marco Rubio called 
<https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1110229048574308353> the presence 
of Russian troops on Venezuelan soil a “direct threat” to US national 
security.

Last week, US and Russian authorities held ad hoc talks 
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14397> on Venezuela in Rome, but no 
concrete agreement was reached.

/Edited and with additional reporting by Lucas Koerner from Caracas./

-- 
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863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/
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