The authoritarian government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro arrested a fourth American citizen, a top official said Tuesday, the latest in a string of foreigners detained in the government’s post-election crackdown.
Over the weekend, Cabello accused the CIA of orchestrating an assassination plot against Maduro — an accusation U.S. State Department officials have firmly denied.
The State Department is aware of “unconfirmed reports” of an additional arrest in Venezuela, a spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday night. U.S. officials are “severely constrained” in their ability to help American citizens in Venezuela, but they are working to gather more information.
“Any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false,” the statement read. “The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela.”
Cabello connected the alleged plot to the arrests of three Americans — including a former U.S. Navy Seal — along with two Spaniards and a Czech citizen. Cabello also said Venezuelan authorities had seized 400 U.S. rifles in connection to the alleged plot.
Late last year, the Biden administration hailed a major prisoner swap with Venezuela that led to the release of 10 detained Americans and the fugitive known as “Fat Leonard” in exchange for the return of a long-sought Maduro ally, Alex Saab, who was awaiting trial in Miami on federal money laundering charges. Now, less than a year later, Maduro has swiftly detained a new group of American citizens — and tapped Saab as a high-profile member of his government.
Maduro’s roundup of foreign citizens follows a weeks-long wave of repression against dissent in the country following its July 28 election, which the U.S. and several other countries say Maduro lost in a landslide. The autocratic government has refused to release official precinct-level results from the vote, has detained more than 2,000 people in connection to protests, and ordered the arrest of opposition candidate Edmundo González, who has since fled the country to Spain.
A report from the U.N. fact-finding mission, released Tuesday, detailed “unprecedented levels of violence” in Venezuela, including allegations of sexual abuse and torture by Maduro’s security forces. It documents dozens of raids into private homes of suspected government critics, without arrest warrants, and prompted solely by videos posted on social media.
“Of the people detained in this period, many were subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as well as sexual violence which was perpetrated against women and girls, but also against men with reported electric shocks, beating with blunt objects, suffocation with plastic bags, immersion in cold water and forced sleep deprivation,” Patricia Tappatá Valdez, a member of the U.N. fact-finding mission, said in a statement.
Maduro faces escalating tensions with the international community amid growing calls to accept the opposition’s apparent victory.
The Biden administration on Thursday announced it was imposing individual U.S. sanctions on 16 Maduro allies, drawing ire from Venezuelan officials.
Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, suggested breaking off diplomatic relations with Spain after the Spanish parliament recognized González as the winner of the July 28 election.
On Tuesday, Cabello accused Spanish intelligence authorities of sending mercenaries to Venezuela and said the detainees were all involved in a trafficking network controlled by the Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization that has expanded to other countries in the region. He did not provide evidence to support his claims, which Spain has denied.
Previously, Cabello claimed that the alleged U.S. operation was led by U.S. Navy member Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez, who has been detained in Venezuela for weeks. According to U.S. Navy records, Castañeda has been enlisted since 2007 and is ranked as a petty officer first class. U.S. officials have said he was in Venezuela on personal travel and not on official government business.
The sailor is assigned to a Naval Special Warfare unit, a U.S. official said, and once served as a SEAL but is no longer authorized to wear the coveted trident badge awarded to qualified commandos. It is unclear why he was stripped of the badge. Venezuela’s attorney general said he had both American and Mexican nationalities.
Before the fourth arrest of a U.S. citizen, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke Tuesday with González and María Corina Machado, the main opposition leader remaining in the country.
Blinken assured them the U.S. would continue to “strive to ensure the will of Venezuelan voters is respected, and hold Nicolás Maduro and his representatives accountable for their actions,” according to a statement about the call.
Kyle Rempfer, Alex Horton and Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.
