Caracas: A drone loaded with explosives detonated near a military event where Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was giving a speech, but he escaped unharmed in what the embattled leader called an assassination attempt.
Seven people were wounded in the apparent attack, which came as Maduro celebrated the National Guard’s 81st anniversary in the capital, Caracas.
Maduro later said “everything points” to a right-wing plot that an initial investigation suggested was linked to Colombia and the US state of Florida, where many Venezuelan exiles live. Several perpetrators were caught, he said, without elaborating.
“This was an assassination attempt, they tried to assassinate me,” Maduro said in a televised address. “That drone was coming for me but there was a shield of love. I am sure I will live for many more years.”
A little-known group called the National Movement of Soldiers in T-shirts claimed responsibility for the attack. In a series of posts on social media, the group said it planned to fly two drones but snipers shot them down.
“We demonstrated that they are vulnerable. We didn’t have success today, but it’s just a question of time,” said the group.
It said it was founded in 2014 to bring together all of Venezuela’s “groups of resistance”.
