CONSPIRACY

Maduro Claims Opposition Leaders Are Linked to Drone Assassination Attempt

Venezuelan president presents no evidence or details to back his allegation.

The alleged attempted assassination of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro via an explosive drone was already dramatic enough—but tensions have ramped up even further after he claimed two opposition leaders are linked to the failed attack. During a national TV broadcast Tuesday night, Maduro said statements from some of the six suspects arrested after the weekend attack implicate Julio Borges, one of the country’s most well-known opposition leaders, who is living in exile in Colombia. “Several of the declarations indicated Julio Borges. The investigations point to him,” Maduro said, though he provided no details or evidence for Borges’ alleged role. The president also named lawmaker Juan Requesens, who was seen in a video widely circulated on social media being arrested by Venezuela’s political police force. In the attack, two drones armed with explosives detonated near Maduro as he spoke outdoors during a military rally Saturday evening. Critics of Maduro’s socialist government feared the leader would use the incident as a convenient excuse to round up opposition politicians.