Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro survived an assassination attempt this Saturday – neither he nor other representatives of the country’s leadership were harmed. Maduro himself has already addressed the country on television, promising to find and severely punish the perpetrators.
The attack method was chosen not only original, but also technological. A few drones with an explosive were sent to the podium on Bolivar Avenue, where Maduro were standing. As a result of the explosions, seven of the guards were injured, said Minister of Communications and Information Jorge Rodriguez.
Broadcasting the event on state television was immediately interrupted. The last frames show how Maduro and the people standing next to him on the podium suddenly looked up. Then the participants of the parade rushed, after which the broadcast ceased.
The president himself was not injured. Minister Rodriguez said that Maduro is in excellent condition after the assassination attempt. “Our president, Maduro, is in excellent health and excellent conditions,” Rodriguez said during a televised address to the nation. After the attempt, Maduro was evacuated to a safe place.
Maduro addressed later to the country on television.
The head of the National Constituent Assembly Diosdado Cabello was the first to announce the possible perpetrators of the attack and he did not excel in originality, accusing the right forces of all.
“Compatriots, right-wing forces insist on violence to take a place they could not get by voting. Our brother-president Nicholas Maduro and the highest political and military leaders were not injured in the terrorist attack during the National Bolivarian Guard’s event. They can not cope with us, “Cabello wrote in his Twitter.
The President himself was more specific and addressed accusations of organizing an assassination not just by the right political forces, but also by a specific person – Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. Besides Santos, he mentioned the United States. “We will ask those responsible who live abroad, primarily in the United States. According to the first investigations, many of the organizers of the assassination are living in the USA, in the state of Florida. I hope that the government of Donald Trump will be ready to fight the terrorist groups that commit assassinations against peaceful countries, against Venezuela, “Maduro said during a televised address to the nation.
He promised that the perpetrators of the attempt will incur the maximum punishment, and they will not be forgiven. According to the president, some of the direct participants in the assassination have already been detained.
The underground group Flannel Soldiers claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt. Mexican portal Sin Embargo notes that the group was established in 2014 and is associated with the rebel police officer Oskar Peres, who was eliminated during a special operation in January 2018. The group positions itself as the unification of all the resistance forces at the national level.
“The operation consisted of the flight of two drones loaded with explosive C4, to the presidential rostrum. Snipers of the Guard of Honor shot down the drones before they arrived at the target. They are vulnerable, it did not work out right now, but
While the official authorities of Venezuela did not comment on this statement.
The very fact of the assassination was already questioned. The Associated Press agency provided information to three representatives of the Venezuelan fire service, according to which in Caracas there was no attack of drones on President Maduro, but only the explosion of a gas cylinder in an apartment near the venue of the parade.
this is a matter of time, “the group said in its Twitter microblog.
Communicated with the agency fire department employees who worked at the scene of the incident, they challenge the official version of the events. On condition of anonymity, they told the agency that an explosion of a gas cylinder in a nearby building had been accepted for an attempt on the president, and that one could see the smoke from this explosion rising from the windows of the house.