Washington [US], October 8: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on October 6 that his country had warned the United States about a "false flag operation" planned by extremists in Venezuela's right-wing to plant explosives at the US Embassy in Caracas, according to Reuters.
Mr. Maduro said Venezuela has received information from two reliable domestic and international sources about the above information. Currently, Venezuela has identified the mastermind and is hunting for those involved, but has not yet released their identities.
In response, the Venezuelan government has increased security measures at the US diplomatic compound and notified a European embassy to act as a focal point for reporting the situation. The US Embassy in Caracas has been closed since the US and Venezuela severed diplomatic relations in 2019. However, it still maintains a team of local staff responsible for security and maintenance of the facility.
The development comes amid rising tensions between the US and Venezuela. According to The New York Times , US President Donald Trump on October 6 asked Special Envoy Richard Grenell to stop all contact efforts and cancel plans to reach a diplomatic agreement with the Maduro government.
Earlier, on October 5, Mr. Trump said that the US would consider attacking drug trafficking gangs on land. The US also deployed many military equipment to the Caribbean Sea with the reason of dealing with drug trafficking gangs. For his part, President Maduro denied that Venezuela was involved in drug trafficking, and at the same time proposed to resume negotiations with Washington through Special Envoy Grenell.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
