Three detainees and new details about the “incursion into Venezuela” denounced by Maduro

The official government of Venezuela reported that “three mercenaries” were detained by the Police after finding them related to the alleged operation to overthrow Nicolás Maduro that was attempted last Sunday.

Venezuela announced this Sunday three new arrests related to the two failed maritime raids last week, as the number of those captured by these events rises to 37.

“Captured today … three other terrorist mercenaries,” said the Operational Strategic Commander of the Armed Forces, Remigio Ceballos, through his Twitter account.

According to the official, the three men, whose names were not disclosed, were captured in the Tovar municipality of Aragua state, near Caracas and considered a tourist area. “The search and scrutiny continues,” added Ceballos.

Last Sunday, the Venezuelan Executive said that it foiled an armed incursion through the coasts of the state of La Guaira, which resulted in eight dead attackers and two detainees.

A day later, authorities reported the capture of 13 new attackers on the beaches of Aragua state, including former US military personnel Luke Denman and Airan Berry. See also: What is known about the alleged invasion of mercenaries to Venezuela?

“They came out cheap,” Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said Saturday, referring to the death toll during the attacks.

Maduro also insisted on accusing the governments of the United States and Colombia, as well as the head of Parliament, Juan Guaidó, for the incursions.

According to the president, Guaidó signed a document with the US military contractor Silvercorp, which is also led by former US military man Jordan Goadreau, for the organization of the attacks.

But Guaidó, who is recognized by fifty countries as the interim president of Venezuela, like the United States and Colombia, has denied these extremes.

The Venezuelan president said that the Colombian president, Iván Duque, denies the accusations of cowardice, in view of the failure of the incursions.

In addition, Maduro indicated that he will keep the so-called “Bolivarian shield” active, 24 hours a day, a series of military exercises that involve the deployment of troops and weapons throughout the Caribbean nation.

Colombia’s explanation

The Colombian Navy said on Saturday that three stranded and unmanned speedboats that were lost on the border with the Meta River were swept away by the current and arrived in Venezuela, the country with which their return is being arranged.

According to a statement from the Navy, the three boats, which were at a river control post “moored on the banks of the Meta River, in the department of Vichada, on the Colombian-Venezuelan border (…) were swept away by the current in early morning today. “

This morning the Venezuelan Armed Forces reported that they seized three combat boats with emblems of the Colombian Navy, which were “in a state of abandonment” and unmanned on a bank of the Orinoco River, in the southern state of Bolívar.

According to the Venezuelan version, the boats, model Evinrude of the American manufacturer Boston Wheeler, are armed “with .50 and M60 caliber machine guns.”

The Colombian Navy detailed in the statement that the sentry in charge of the safety of the boats realized this morning that, due to the effects of the strong fluvial current, the boats were “dragged by the river, without having the opportunity to recover them.”

Due to the mishap, the displacement of members of the Naval Force of the East was ordered “for the recovery of the boats, but given the proximity to Venezuela they were taken by the river entering the territory of this country, which prevented the units Colombian search and rescue of them. “

The situation with Colombian speedboats occurs a week after the government of Nicolás Maduro said that it frustrated two maritime incursions in the coastal states of La Guaira and Aragua, for which it accused the opposition and the governments of Colombia and the United States.

To retrieve the boats, the Oriente Naval Force contacted the Venezuelan Navy Naval Post in Puerto Páez, from where “they expressed their willingness to support, informing that they would carry out the location of the vessels and the corresponding delivery” when they have authorization of the upper command.

The Meta River is one of the great tributaries of the Orinoco, the most important river in Venezuela, and the fourth longest in South America. 65% of the surface of its basin is located in Venezuela, while the remaining 35% is in Colombian territory.

The incident occurred near Puerto Carreño, capital of the Colombian department of Vichada, where the Meta flows into the Orinoco.

Colombia and Venezuela have not had diplomatic relations since February 23, 2019 when Maduro broke them after the failed attempt by the president of the National Assembly and the president “in charge” of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, to lead a humanitarian aid caravan that left from the Colombian city of Cúcuta with the intention of crossing the border.