Venezuela Arrests Four Americans for Alleged Anti-Maduro Coup Plot

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced on Thursday the arrest of four American citizens accused by the socialist regime of “hacking” Venezuelan infrastructure and “plotting” to overthrow dictator Nicolás Maduro.

The four detained Americans were identified by Cabello as Gregory David Weber, David Gutenberg Guillaume, Jonathan Pagan González, and Jorge Marcelo Vargas.

Cabello, without presenting evidence to substantiate his accusations, claimed that the detained Americans are part of a broader “mercenary group” allegedly linked to the CIA and Spain’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI).

The Venezuelan interior minister is a long-suspected drug lord wanted by U.S. authorities on multiple narco-terrorism charges. Since 2020, the United States has an active $10 million bounty out for any information that can lead to his arrest and/or conviction.

Cabello accused Weber of being a “hacker” that plotted to “sabotage” Venezuela’s state infrastructure. Gutenberg Guillaume, who Cabello identified as a “paramedic,” allegedly had the “mission of providing assistance in case of injuries in terrorist activities.”

Pagan González, who Cabello said was detained in the western state of Zulia, was accused by the ruling socialists of plotting to “attack” Maduro and other high-ranking regime officials, as well as “infiltrating” religious groups in Zulia.

“Jonathan Pagán González, an American citizen of Puerto Rican origin, has a very serious link in the state of Zulia to plot against the President of the Republic, [Vice President] Delcy Rodríguez, and leaders of the Chavista party,” Cabello claimed.

Marcelo Vargas, further identified as a dual American Bolivian national, was detained after he was caught “taking photos” of Venezuela’s oil refineries.

“The plan is to overthrow the Bolivarian revolution,” Maduro said, claiming that the purported “mercenary group” that the four American nationals belong to also includes “several Colombians,” a Peruvian, and a Lebanese national.

During his press conference, Cabello presented 71 “American-made” firearms that were allegedly seized across “several operations,” as well as 33 rifles allegedly stolen from the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela to allegedly be used in the plots to overthrow the Maduro regime.

Cabello claimed that “investigations” determined that the mercenaries were brought into the country by Spain’s national intelligence agency, the CNI, but further accused the United States of being involved in “conspiratorial plans” against the Maduro regime through the CIA and DEA.

Cabello further accused the “mercenaries” of having links with the Tren de Aragua and Tren de Llano criminal organizations — that Cabello once again insisted had been “dismantled” by Venezuelan law enforcement officials.

“Behind all this is imperialism with its agents of action, in this case the CIA and the Spanish National Intelligence Center, which is the one directly in charge of the operation, in the recruitment and supply of weapons,” Cabello claimed.

Thursday’s announcement of the detention of four American citizens comes roughly one month after Cabello announced the detention of another group of three U.S. nationals who stand accused of allegedly “plotting” against Maduro and his socialist regime with the “neck-deep” involvement of the CIA and CNI.

Cabello claimed that both groups of detained U.S. citizens are already being prosecuted “in compliance with the Venezuelan constitution and laws, based on the respect for human rights and due process.”

“All these citizens have already been judicialized, complying with the times established by the Law and giving them the guarantees as established by the Law, but doing the investigations as they correspond,” Cabello said. “All of them have their Human Rights respected, better than in Guantanamo. Their countries must know that they come to conspire against Venezuela to harm our country.”

“No one has been mistreated, we do not do that here, they do that in Guantánamo, they do it in other places,” he continued. “The names of judges and prosecutors who prosecute these individuals are not disclosed to protect the national justice system from mercenaries and terrorists, we are obliged to protect their integrity.”

Cabello also thanked the Colombian government, led by far-left President Gustavo Petro, for “collaboration” with Venezuelan security agencies to “dismantle these conspiratorial plans against the country.”

“Colombian security agencies have helped the Bolivarian Government to identify logistic operators trying to introduce weapons into Venezuela,” Cabello said. “It is very important that neighboring countries understand that what happens to Venezuela has consequences on them, because they would apply it as a modus operandi to destabilize.”

“I am sure that these operations are not only being carried out in Venezuela, but also in other countries that are not in line with the United States government,” he continued.