Maduro: US, Colombia have long plotted to assassinate me

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has denounced the United States and its allies in neighboring Colombia for their longtime plots to eliminate him and the Latin American country’s senior military officials.

“There is a decision in the north and in Colombia by the oligarchy to assassinate me and to assassinate the General Staff and the political-military high command of this [Bolivarian] Revolution,” Maduro said in an interview on Sunday. “That decision has been made for a long time.”

Maduro said both countries were governed by extremists, noting Washington had orchestrated a coup to topple his government last year.

“It was the objective of the coup d’état of April 30th [2019] to come for me, kidnap me,” he said. 

On that date, a small group of army defectors accompanying US-backed opposition figure Juan Guaido clashed with Venezuelan army at an anti-government rally in an attempted coup.

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More than 100 people were reportedly injured as a result of the violence. The putsch quickly petered out, however, and some 25 renegade soldiers sought refuge at the Brazilian Embassy in Caracas.

The Venezuela president said that he had been confronted with tens of hundreds of schemes hatched against the nation by the imperialists and “facist right.”

“There have been 2,725 days of harassment, aggression, manipulation. I have not had a single day without the aggression of imperialism and the fascist right and they have always seen me with courage,” he said.

Speaking at the premiere of the program “Here with Ernesto” hosted by Culture Minister Ernesto Villegas, Maduro said that all such schemes had failed. 

Maduro said the hawkish former US Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams had informed US lawmakers of Washington’s plan to “eliminate” the Venezuelan leader, pointing out that such threats cannot be taken lightly.

“The word eliminate in the mouth of a hawk, with a criminal record like Elliott Abrams, cannot be taken as a game. It is a plan and they have an office just for Venezuela, the objective is to end the leadership that I represent,” Maduro said.

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Maduro gave assurances that he had no fear of the countries scheming against him.

He said despite all their attempts to eliminate him, he would continue showing courage in the face of adversity.

“I’m not afraid of imperialism ... I will never betray the people. I will never surrender,” he said.

Venezuela has been in political turmoil since US-backed opposition figure Juan Guaido declared himself “interim president” late in January 2019.

Backed by his foreign sponsors, he tried and failed to make the Venezuelan armed forces to turn against the elected government of Maduro.

The administration of US President Donald Trump — along with a number of its European and regional allies including Colombia — recognized Guaido’s self-proclamation.

Washington has since been mounting economic pressure on Caracas and has repeatedly threatened to use military force to topple Maduro’s government.

Caracas has, on numerous occasions, reported assassination attempts against Maduro amid foreign-backed attempts to topple his government.

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