Asger Risom
Dozens detained as authorities link alleged attacks to opposition and NGOs
As Venezuela prepared for regional and legislative elections, the government claimed it had foiled a major terrorist plot allegedly orchestrated to sabotage the vote.
The Interior Ministry accused a network tied to opposition figures of planning attacks on several diplomatic buildings and national infrastructure.
Authorities claim broad scope of planned attacks
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on Wednesday that a “terrorist group,” allegedly backed by drug money and criminal gangs, was preparing to attack the embassies and residences of Spain, France, and Colombia, as well as UN offices in Caracas. According to Cabello, the aim was to disrupt the May 25 elections and “convert politics into a sewer.”
“They lost the sense of politics, they want to turn political practice into a cesspool,
Cabello said during a televised press conference.
He said over 70 people had been arrested across the capital and states including Zulia, Aragua, Carabobo, and Miranda. In the past ten days alone, the government claims to have “neutralized” nearly 60 alleged attacks on oil infrastructure.
The minister connected the plot to multiple NGOs—Provea, Foro Penal, Médicos Unidos, and Maracaibo Posible—accusing them of supporting or participating in the operation. He cited data allegedly retrieved from the phone of former opposition lawmaker Juan Pablo Guanipa, arrested last week and described as the “head” of the network.
Cabello said in a statement:
It doesn’t matter if they say they’re human rights defenders. It’s a lie. No one who truly defends human rights can justify attacks on the peace of a nation.
Detainees include opposition figures and activists
Guanipa, once first vice president of parliament and a vocal supporter of opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia in the 2024 presidential election, had reportedly been in hiding. Human rights groups say he and others were being persecuted.
The government also detained Eduardo Torres, a lawyer with Provea, days before the vote. Prosecutor General Tarek William Saab accused Torres of inciting violence through foreign-funded workshops disguised as civic training.
Saab alleged that Torres’s “Nodos de Formación Ciudadana” initiative spread messages calling for the destruction of polling stations and promoted hate against state institutions.
The claims, published by 20Minutos, are part of an escalating crackdown on dissent ahead of a highly contested vote in a country where international observers have repeatedly raised concerns about democratic backsliding.