CARACAS, May 4 — Venezuela's government said it foiled a marine incursion yesterday by “terrorist mercenaries” who attempted to enter the country on speedboats from neighbouring Colombia, which opposition leaders dismissed as a staged incident.
President Nicolas Maduro frequently accuses political adversaries of attempting to overthrow him with the backing of Washington, which has vowed to force him from office through sanctions that have crippled the Opec nation's oil exports.
Critics of the ruling Socialist Party often dismiss such accusations as stunts used as an excuse to detain opponents of the government.
The group landed early yesterday on the coast of La Guaira, about 32 km from the capital Caracas, Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said in a televised address.
“They tried to carry out an invasion by sea, a group of terrorist mercenaries from Colombia, in order to commit terrorist acts in the country, murdering leaders of the revolutionary government,” he said.
Opposition leader Juan Guaido said the government was seeking to distract from recent violent events including a deadly prison riot on Friday and bloody Caracas gang battle on Saturday night.
“The regime is seeking to divert attention with a supposed incident (in La Guaira) plagued with inconsistencies, doubts and contradictions,” the press team for Guaido, who is recognized by more than 50 countries as Venezuela's legitimate leader, said in a statement.
Socialist Party leader Diosdado Cabello said eight people were killed and two detained.
Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino said one of the speedboats had sunk, and that military vessels were searching the coast for survivors.
The assertions by Maduro's government of Colombian involvement were “unfounded,” Colombia's foreign ministry said in a statement, and were an attempt to distract attention from “the true problems that the Venezuelan people are living.”
Maduro has overseen a six-year economic crisis that has left many citizens unable to obtain basic food and medicine and forced nearly five million people to emigrate.
The United States and dozens of other countries disavowed Maduro after his disputed 2018 election, which they say was rigged. They instead recognise Guaido, who is head of the country's legislature.
But Maduro retains the backing of the country's armed forces as well as countries including China and Russia, which have harshly criticised the US sanctions. — Reuters