Kidnapping of Venezuelan official thwarted in Caracas

Caracas, March 5 (RHC)-- Venezuelan leader Diosdado Cabello reported the arrest of nine people who were planning to kidnap him and hand him over to the United States.

"There are nine people detained that the State Security determined, after intercepting calls and (that) someone gave information, that these people were preparing (...) the possibility of detaining me, of imprisoning me," said the first vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) in his weekly program, "Con el Mazo Dando."

A tweet by journalist Carla Angola who stated that "they tried to kidnap Diosdado (Cabello) to deliver him to the United States and some experts believe that it is not so complicated."

On March 26, 2020, the United States filed charges against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and 14 other high-ranking officials for alleged links to drug trafficking and money laundering, without presenting evidence to support them.

U.S. authorities offered a reward of up to $15 million for any information leading to Maduro's arrest, $10 million for Cabello's arrest and another $10 million for information leading to the arrests of Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami.

Washington and its allies have made multiple attempts to overthrow the Maduro government, including a terrorist incursion into Venezuela, with the aim of kidnapping the president and taking him to the U.S., which failed, thanks to the intervention of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces.