FILE - In this Venezuelan Communications Ministry photo, Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez shows a photograph of a man he identifies as former U.S. special forces soldier Luke Denman, taken in Venezuela during his arrest, in Caracas, May 5, 2020.
More than 40 people have been detained as alleged participants in last week’s unsuccessful attempt to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as security forces continue to round up suspects.
Three Venezuelan men were captured Monday in Carayaca, 35 miles west of Caracas. Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Guard said in a social media post that the men were “terrorists who entered the country intending to provoke violence.”
Late Sunday, Venezuelan army chief Remigio Ceballos tweeted to announce that government forces had arrested eight other “enemies of the fatherland” allegedly tied to the foiled raid.
Maduro’s forces reportedly killed eight men during the May 3 raid and captured more than 20 others, including Americans Airon Berry and Luke Denman, both former members of the U.S. special forces. Berry and Denman are being held in Venezuela on charges of terrorism, arms trafficking and conspiracy.
Maduro announced last week that his government was working toward the extradition from the U.S. of Jordan Goudreau, the operator of a Florida-based security contracting company implicated in the botched mission, to stand trial for his alleged role in the raid attempt.
Venezuelan authorities say that the operatives traveled by speedboat from Colombia to Venezuela and that Venezuelan forces foiled the attack, having been warned about it ahead of time.