Venezuelan National Assembly President and chief government negotiator Jorge Rodríguez said Sunday that his government has warned the United States about an alleged plan by “extremist sectors of the local right” to place explosives at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.
Rodríguez said the Maduro regime had alerted Washington “through three different channels” about what he described as a “false flag operation” designed to harm Venezuelan interests. “We have also warned a European embassy so that it may communicate the gravity of this information to U.S. diplomatic personnel,” he added.
The statement was issued on Rodríguez’s official Instagram account, where he said that security measures around the U.S. Embassy had been reinforced. “Our government respects and protects that diplomatic facility,” Rodríguez wrote, calling the alleged plot “a grave threat.”
Venezuela and the United States have not maintained formal diplomatic relations since 2019, when authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro expelled U.S. diplomats following Washington’s recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president. The U.S. Embassy building in Caracas has since remained closed to the public, though a small staff continues to maintain the premises.
Rodríguez signed the message as “head of Venezuela’s dialogue process with the United States,” a title he has used in recent weeks amid growing tensions between both governments. The Maduro administration claims the supposed plot was orchestrated to create unrest and justify further U.S. pressure.
The announcement comes after President Donald Trump praised over the weekend the success of U.S. naval operations in the Caribbean targeting what Washington calls “cartel terrorists.”
Speaking during the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Navy, Trump said the military had destroyed several boats allegedly transporting drugs from Venezuela and hinted that future operations could move from the sea to land. “We did another one last night,” Trump said. “We can’t find any more. Not even fishing boats want to go out.”
Venezuela has denounced the U.S. operations as a “threat” and a pretext for “regime change.” Maduro announced during the weekend that he had sent a letter to Pope Leo XIV asking for “support to consolidate peace” in the country and has ordered new military exercises aimed, he said, at “refining all territorial defense mechanisms.”
Originally published on Latin Times
