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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://orinocotribune.com/venezuela-failed-us-plot-to-kidnap-president-maduro-by-attempting-to-co-opt-his-pilot-revealed/">orinocotribune.com</a>
<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div><h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Venezuela: Failed US Plot to Kidnap President Maduro by Attempting to Co-opt his Pilot Revealed</h1>October 30, 2025</div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p><img width="394" height="243" src="https://orinocotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/G1UHYsTWoAAcd5g-e1761782707891-1024x631.webp" alt="Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's pilot General Bitner Villegas during a military drill at Paseo Los Proceres, Caracas, on September 20, 2025. Photo: X/@EnverConde." class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;"></p>
<p><span></span></p><p>
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's pilot General Bitner Villegas
during a military drill at Paseo Los Proceres, Caracas, on September 20,
2025. Photo: X/@EnverConde.</p>
<p></p></div><div id="gmail-content"><div><p>Caracas (<a href="https://orinocotribune.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OrinocoTribune.com</a>)\u2014An
intelligence agent from the US empire has been caught attempting to
co-opt an airplane pilot working for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
in order to kidnap him, according to an Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dhs-plan-capture-maduro-pilot-planes-7915d5a0819ceb518a8ca2b47da8b2e5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>.</p><p>The
report details how a US Homeland Security Investigations agent,
identified as Edwin Lopez, approached the Venezuelan pilot after
learning in 2024 that two private jets frequently used by President
Maduro were being repaired in the Dominican Republic. Lopez told the
pilot to divert a flight carrying the Venezuelan president to a site
where he could be kidnapped by US operatives, offering a
multimillion-dollar reward and even threatening his children.</p><p>The
pilot, identified as Venezuelan military aviation officer then-Colonel
(now General) Bitner Villegas, did not betray the Chavista leader,
despite the pressure he was facing. According to the AP report, signed
by Joshua Goodman, Lopez stayed in touch with Villegas for at least 16
months. Villegas remained noncommittal but continued to exchange
messages with the agent for more than a year, even after Lopez retired
in July 2025, something very common in counter-intelligence operations.</p><p>The
US regime has tried countless failed operations, first to oust
President Hugo Chávez and now President Maduro. Over the last two
decades, the White House has used narratives involving coup d\u2019états,
interim presidents, guerrilla involvement, and so-called \u201cIslamic
terrorism,\u201d along with human rights and environmental accusations, in
order to destabilize the Bolivarian Revolution.</p><p>More broadly, the
revelations come as the US steps up military and intelligence pressure
on Caracas to unprecedented levels. The Trump administration has
authorized the CIA to conduct lethal covert operations inside Venezuela,
and has deployed warships, aircraft, and almost 10,000 troops to the
Caribbean for a new and reloaded \u201cwar on drugs.\u201d</p><p>The US regime
placed a Department of Justice bounty on the Venezuelan president from
$15 million to $25 million in January. In August, a few days before the
announcement of the controversial US military deployment in the
Caribbean Sea, the bounty was raised to $50 million. Numerous analysts
have pointed out that this is another regime change attempt to
destabilize Venezuela, a major producer of oil.</p><p>Far-right actors
in both Venezuela and the US have demanded for years that the bounty on
President Maduro\u2019s head to be raised to US$100 million in order to make a
mercenary operation against the Venezuelan president viable, leading to
the infamous mercenary boss Erik Prince making public <a href="https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1963265407273279764" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claims</a> for this on social media in mid-2024.</p><p>In
recent months, the Trump regime has accused President Maduro of being a
drug trafficker, the head of the almost extinct Tren de Aragua criminal
gang, defeated thanks to the civic-military union of Venezuela, and the
entirely fictional Cartel of the Suns, in addition to alleged
connections with México\u2019s Sinaloa Cartel. No evidence has been presented
to support any of these far-fetched allegations.</p><p>Separately, US
military strikes on small boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific have so
far murdered 57 civilians off the coasts of Venezuela, Mexico, Trinidad
and Tobago, and Colombia. Both US and international experts label the
military strikes as extrajudicial killings.</p><p><strong>Intelligence vs. counter-intelligence</strong><br>
AP\u2019s Joshua Goodman has been denounced for years as a mouthpiece for the
US empire\u2019s department of war. For that reason, many analysts consider
his recent \u201creport\u201d as another piece of the ongoing US regime change
operation against President Maduro and the Bolivarian Revolution,
attempting to throw loyal Venezuelan soldiers into disrepute entirely
fictitiously, in order to present a narrative of instability targeting
the sovereign nation.</p><p>Almost four weeks ago, Venezuela\u2019s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello <a href="https://orinocotribune.com/venezuelas-interior-minister-busts-fake-news-about-desertions-by-army-generals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">denounced</a>
fake news circulating about the alleged desertion of high-ranking Army
commanders, among them being General Villegas. During his televised
program <em>Con El Mazo Dando</em> last Wednesday, September 24, Cabello
refuted the rumors about the alleged desertion of Division General
Pedro Rafael Suárez and Battalion General Bitner Javier Villegas.
According to the rumors, the former had fled to Trinidad and Tobago,
while others claimed both were in New York.</p><p>This was proven the
next day, when both Venezuelan military commanders were seen actively
participating in defensive drills organized in Venezuela to respond to a
potential US military aggression. They also joined Minister Cabello
during his weekly program.</p><p>For this reason, many analysts consider
that the AP/Goodman \u201creport\u201d is just another piece in the puzzle of US
psychological and intelligence operations against Chavismo and the
leadership of Venezuela.</p><p>Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>