Venezuela arrests 32 in alleged plot to kill Maduro

All suspects have "confessed and revealed information about the plans,"Attorney General Tarek William Saab told reporters in Caracas.
He said they had been accused of treason and convicted for their crimes.
Maduro loyalist Saab said arrest warrants have been issued for 11 otherpeople, including rights activists, journalists and soldiers in exile, forthe alleged plot that also targeted Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino.
Maduro urged maximum punishment for the people arrested and said he hasordered the defense ministry to cashier and expel the military personnelinvolved in the plot.
"The maximum sentence must be applied against them... for terrorism,conspiracy and treason," Maduro said on his television program.
Maduro had already denounced on January 15 what he said was a plot againsthim.
Padrino told the same press conference that an operation that started lastyear to uncover details of the alleged conspiracy was kept secret as itcoincided with "talks" between Maduro and the United States that resulted ina prisoner swap.
He blamed the plot on the "far right," as the Maduro government usuallyrefers to the opposition, with "support" of the US Central IntelligenceAgency (CIA) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Officials released a video that purportedly implicates opposition leaderMaria Corina Machado in the plot, and Saab vowed that "more arrests willfollow," without naming names.
Maduro was elected in 2018 for a second, successive term not recognized bydozens of countries and met with a barrage of sanctions.
These have been eased since his government agreed to hold free and fairelections in 2024 with observers present.
Machado, however, remains barred from holding public office despite winningoverwhelming support in a primary vote last October.
She was disqualified by the authorities for alleged corruption and forbacking sanctions against Caracas.
In a report last year, the United Nations Human Rights Committee expressedconcern about the "persecution of dissidents" in Venezuela as well as the"intimidation, persecution, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of journalists,human rights defenders and political activists."
Maduro, who has not confirmed whether he will seek another term, frequentlydenounces plans to overthrow him, usually with the same co-conspirators: theUnited States, the opposition and Colombian drug traffickers.