Venezuela detains six people in hunt for assailants behind drone attack on President Maduro

Opposition leaders warn socialist leader might use attack to suppress critics

Six people have been detained in the search for assailants behind a failed attempt to assassinate Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, using explosive-laden drones.

Investigators have raided hotels and seized vehicles and are grilling the suspects for details of the plot.

They are accused of launching two drones packed with explosives over a speech Mr Maduro was giving in downtown Caracas to commemorate the National Guard.

One was “diverted” by security forces while the other fell on its own and hit an apartment building, the country’s interior minister, Nestor Reverol, said.

“These terrorist acts represent a slap in the face to the expressed desire of the president of the Republic, Nicolas Maduro, for national reconciliation and dialogue,” Mr Reverol said in a statement read on state television.

He said the drones were packed with a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of C-4 plastic explosives, with one intended to explode above him and the other directly in front of him.

On Sunday, Venezuela’s socialist government alleged the detained suspects had conspired with others in Miami and the capital of neighbouring Colombia, though gave no specific evidence.

Opposition leaders have criticised Mr Maduro for broadly singling out his political opponents, and warned he might use the attack to suppress his critics further.

State footage of the rally showed Mr Maduro and his wife appear startled at what seemed to be an explosion. The video later panned to soldiers lined up on a boulevard who chaotically broke ranks in what appeared to be a reaction to the second blast.

The president later described the attack, which injured seven soldiers, as an assassination attempt.

One of the suspects had an outstanding arrest warrant for involvement in a 2017 attack on a military base which killed two people, Mr Reverol said, an attack which followed four months of anti-government protests.

A second suspect had been detained during a wave of anti-Maduro protests in 2014 but had been released through “procedural benefits,” he said, without offering details.

He did not name the suspects.

In an address to the nation later on Saturday night, a visibly shaken Mr Maduro blamed the attack on the “far right,” and called on Donald Trump to hold the “terrorist group” accountable.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday, the US president’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said: “If the government of Venezuela has hard information that they want to present to us that would show a potential violation of US criminal law, we’ll take a serious look at it.”

The Broad Front, a coalition of opposition groups in Venezuela, accused the government of making an allegation without proof.

“It’s evident that the initial reaction of the government isn’t aimed at attempting to clarify what happened but rather to take advantage of the situation and irresponsibly and sweepingly attack the ‘opposition,”’ the group said in a statement.

A little-known group calling itself Soldiers in T-shirts claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it planned to fly two drones loaded with explosives at the president but soldiers shot them down.

“It was not successful today, but it is just a matter of time,” the group said in a tweet.

Venezuela’s government routinely accuses opposition activists of plotting to attack and overthrow Mr Maduro.

The former bus driver has moved steadily to consolidate power as the nation struggles to reverse hyperinflation that the International Monetary Fund projects could top 1 million per cent by year’s end.

Last year, amid deadly, near-daily protests, a rogue police officer, Oscar Perez, flew a stolen helicopter over the capital and launched grenades at several government buildings. Perez and several of his comrades were killed in a gunbattle with police after more than six months at large.

Mr Maduro said the attack left him convinced of the military’s support and undeterred in carrying forward the socialist revolution begun by the late Hugo Chavez.

Additional reporting by agencies