Venezuela Arrests 3 Americans Involved in Alleged Coup Attempt, US Denies Involvement

The U.S. rebuffed the Venezuelan government’s accusations that the CIA led a coup attempt against Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.

The Details: Venezuela announced that three U.S. citizens, including Navy member Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez, had been detained in connection with an alleged plot that also contained a Czech and two Spanish nationals. The U.S. confirmed the arrest of a military member but did not reveal names or details about the arrests. Venezuela also said it seized 400 American rifles bound for “extremist groups.”

For Context: The U.S. recently declared opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia the rightful winner of Venezuela’s July presidential election and imposed sanctions on several affiliates of Maduro. However, Maduro maintains that he is the elected president and remains in power.

Key Quotes: On Saturday, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said, “We from Venezuela demand that the United States government clarify the participation of its agency, that it clarify (its plans) to traffic arms to overthrow a democratically constituted government.” The U.S. State Department said in a statement, “Any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false.”

How the Media Covered It: USA Today (Lean Left bias) focused on the statements from the U.S. State Department, emphasizing its denial and commitment to a democratic resolution to the crisis. Breitbart News (Right bias) focused more on Venezuela’s allegations and detailed the alleged planned actions of the group in relation to Venezuelan infrastructure. An editor wrote this summary with the help of AllSides AI.