In a desperate effort to maintain cohesion of his political base, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro once again bemoaned alleged plots against him.
Presenting his annual address before the ruling party-dominated National Assembly in mid-January, Maduro claimed that intelligence bodies had uncovered “four conspiracies with foreign components, planned from Miami and Colombia.”
“I am delivering evidence, recordings, testimonies. All those involved, civilians and military, nationals and foreigners, are convicted and confessed of the four conspiracies that the extreme right set up together with Colombian narcotrafficking groups, the CIA, and the extreme right of Miami, whose objective was to assassinate me, as well as Minister Padrino López and other important political and military leaders of Venezuela, to create chaos and commotion in the country, in order to bring down the process of peace, stability, and recovery of the nation and that we would not make it to 2024,” he said with theatrical anguish.
Information about the detainees identified in these files have not been made public. However, following Maduro’s desperate lament, Attorney General Tarek William Saab, named Tamara Sujú, human rights activist and director of the Casla Foundation; journalist Sebastiana Barráez; Lieutenant (ret.) José Antonio Colina, and Vice Admiral (ret.) Mario Carratú Molina, among those involved in the conspiracies.
Saab said that 32 people had been arrested, among them was Army Captain (ret.) Anyelo Heredia. From abroad, both Sujú and Barráez, as well as officers Carratú and Colina, individually rejected the accusations of the Venezuelan regime official.
On the other hand, Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino announced the expulsion of 33 military personnel, allegedly linked to these cases. Venezuelan nongovernmental organization Control Ciudadano warned that these measures were carried out without following the disciplinary protocols established for the National Armed Forces.
The conspiracy allegation occurred at a time when the Venezuelan regime was rushing to shut down the presidential candidacy of María Corina Machado. Eleven days after Maduro’s address before the National Assembly, the Supreme Court upheld the ban against the presidential candidate, who had won the opposition primary in October.
Oswaldo Ramírez Colina, director of the Latin American Association of Political Consultants for Venezuela, told Diálogo on February 10 that what all these actions have in common is Maduro’s anguish to unite a fragmented ruling party, which, according to polls conducted by the Association, comprises 14 percent of the electorate.
Likewise, Ramírez explained, the conspiracy accusations are also a pretext for “the reactivation of non-state armed groups,” which the regime had suspended due to the economic crisis.
On February 7, these groups attacked Machado’s followers during a demonstration in Charallave, a town located in the Valles del Tuy, 30 kilometers from the capital.
“They are trying to impose the idea that [Maduro’s followers] are the only ones authorized to have political displays in the territory and they practically do not allow demonstrations by anyone they consider to be competitors,” Ramírez said.
Deployment
The conspiracy allegations against Maduro overlapped the Essequibo dispute, in which the regime claims two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.
The regime has been pushing forward in its campaign against its eastern neighbor. Satellite images made public in early February show the build-up of troops and expanding military bases, The Guardian reported. According to think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Venezuela has been moving light tanks, missile-equipped patrol boats, and armored carriers to the border, despite the agreements reached in December not to use force or exacerbate the situation.
“The same day that the Venezuelan foreign minister is meeting with Guyanese diplomats, the Venezuelan military is conducting tank drills just a stone’s throw from Guyana,” Christopher Hernandez-Roy, deputy director of CSIS Americas Program, said, according to The Guardian. “All of this tells us Maduro is pursuing a duplicitous policy.”
Military troops of the Guayana Esequiba Integral Defense Zone (Zodi Esequiba 64) have also been carrying out social actions in the town of San Martín de Turumbang, on the banks of the Cuyuní river, meant for inhabitants of both countries.
Ramírez warned that the Essequibo issue could be used by the regime as a “wild card,” to disrupt the upcoming elections.
For Venezuelan international relations expert Elsa Cardozo of the Central University of Venezuela, the regime is attempting to use the Essequibo for “political ends with little national value, except to accuse those it wants to accuse of being traitors.”
“So far, Maduro’s attempts to win sympathy among the Guyanese population have failed. Rather, it reflects the rejection of the Guyanese population,” Cardozo told Diálogo. “The question one asks oneself is where is the line of Guyanese people seeking the Venezuelan ID?”