A handout picture released by the Venezuelan Presidency shows Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez speaking during a televised announcement in which the government accused Venezuelan opposition figure Leopoldo Lopez of planning an armed incursion into the country, at the Miraflores Presidential Palace, in Caracas, Venezuela, on June 27, 2020. (Photo by AFP)
Venezuela has voiced strong protestation to Spain for harboring an opposition figure involved in planning a recent incursion to kidnap President Nicolas Maduro.
Leopoldo Lopez, who is under Spains protection at the countrys embassy in Caracas, has been identified as the mastermind of an abortive incursion to kidnap Maduro in May.
"Does the Spanish ambassador know that Leopoldo Lopez has held and continues to hold video conferences with the sole purpose of going on with his plans to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro?" Venezuelas Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said.
He described Lopez - who is considered to be the mentor of opposition leader Juan Guaido - as a "criminal."
Last month, a group of mercenaries attempted to intrude into the northern Venezuelan state of La Guaira on speedboats in a gung-ho operation to kidnap Maduro. Venezuelas military foiled that attack, killing eight of the armed men and arresting several others, including two US citizens.
In an article titled "Venezuelan Opposition Guru Led Planning to Topple Maduro," The Wall Street Journal recently described how "López and allies shopped for mercenaries" among different private security firms, looking for ex-military contractors willing to take part in a coup against the Maduro government.
Guaido plunged the country into political turmoil after he unilaterally declared himself "interim president" of Venezuela in January last year.
Later, with Washingtons assistance and receiving help from a small number of rogue soldiers, he launched a botched putsch against the elected government.
Lopez, who had been under house arrest since 2014 for inciting violence during anti-government protests, fled to the Spanish Embassy in Caracas in April 2019 and has lived there ever since, as the Spanish government refused to hand him over to Caracas.
SOURCE: PRESS TV
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/18949
TAGS:
online news tv
