Of all the convoluted schemes and stratagems, some real and some imagined, devised to topple the Bolivarian government since it took root in Venezuela in 1999, nothing surpasses in implausibility the plot that unfolded on 3 and 4 May. A ragtag group led by two former US special forces soldiers sought to stage an amphibious ‘invasion’ of Venezuela with the objective of abducting the de facto president Nicolás Maduro and members of his coterie and flying them to the US. They failed to make landfall. Maduro decried an attempt by “terrorist mercenaries” backed by the US and Colombian governments to oust him, and Venezuela’s attorney general’s office is investigating the involvement of Juan Guaidó. Feeling the heat, the opposition leader, and widely recognised interim president, accused Maduro of seeking to distract attention from Venezuela’s real problems.End of preview - This article contains approximately 1425 words.
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